The Nature-Deficit Disorder

Reading:     Excerpt from: The Last Child in the Woods    

    

                         Nature-Deficit Disorder and the Restorative Environment by Richard Louv

"But television is only part of the larger environmental/cultural change in our lifetime; namely, that rapid move from a rural to a highly urbanized culture" (Louv, 2005, p. 4).

Behind the glass. Photo by D. Martinez

Who would have thought that a recurring and highly common diagnoses such as ADHD can be helped by nature alone? I was certainly taken aback when I had read this excerpt by Louv. His words made complete sense, and I was honestly surprised I hadn't considered it before. With the author's elaborate descriptions and explanations to the various studies that support his point had me fully immersed in the reading. In the last post , the second quote I had listed seems to resound with Louv's words, and ultimately supports the use of nature for restoring the mental health of kids. Kids in this day and age have been unfortunately deprived of many critical activities that were once the norm. Instead of playing ball outside with some friends, children now find themselves in their rooms playing either with their phones, playing video games, or watching T.V. It is a harsh reality that I so deeply wish could be reversed to the olden days. As Louv goes on to explain, "...as recently as the 1950s, most families still had some kind of agricultural connection. Many of these children as well as boys, would have been directing their energy and physicality in constructive ways: doing farm chores, baling hay, splashing in the swimming hole, climbing tress, racing to the sandlot for a game of baseball. Their unregemented play would have been steeped in nature" (Louv, 2005, p.4). Instead, we are seeing that society is no longer supporting kids in exploring the outside world and being in direct contact with nature.

  A perfect example of this is seen by the extinction of p.e. classes. I recall during my elementary, middle, and even a few high school years, how vital recess/p.e. was for every student. Taking this class was even mandatory in the first two years of highschool- much to everyone's disdain. I can admit I never really looked forward to it during high school but it's now after many years that I've come to acknowledge and appreciate the class. It's funny, but one of my fondest memories of my elementary school years was playing four-square with my classmates and participating in field days. It's things like these that made me realize how wonderful being actively involved with the outside world truly is. Contrarily, it also makes me feel saddened that children today are deprived of this simple happiness. "In the era of test-centric education reform and growing fear of liability, many districts considered recess a waste of potential academic time or too risky" (Louv, 2005, p. 1). And so, now tying this aspect into the excerpt stating the reaping benefits the simple contact with nature can have on children diagnosed with ADHD, allows me to have a closer glimpse at what Louv is getting at. The reason as to why ADHD has become the forefront of diagnoses in the present day has become clearer, as well.

"If it's true that nature therapy reduces the symptoms of ADHD, then the converse may also be true: ADHD may be a set of symptoms aggravated by lack of exposure to nature" (Louv, 2005, p. 11).

A childhood friend handing me a flower. Photo by R. Gomez

  The idea of nature as a means of eliminating symptoms of ADHD without the use of medication and side effects pleases me tremendously. Being a psychology student (and soon to be graduate), I couldn't help but smile at the idea of one day perhaps incorporating this into my practice as a child psychologist. I've always believed that the main focus should remain on children, particularly when it came to mental issues, or in this case, disorders. As children we have a higher and best possibility for change for the better in our coming years as a teenager and adult. Once that healthy mentality is established at a young age I believe anything is possible. They are our future, and if nature can be our second helping hand- especially to us upcoming psychologists- a centered focus should be cast on "the restorative environment", and the peaceful incantation placed on anyone surrounded by the beauty of nature.

Source: Louv, R. (2005). Excerpt from Last Child in the Woods. In University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future. Acton, MA. XanEdu Publishing 

The Revolution of Biophilia

Reading:     Excerpt from: Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human 

                          Prospect        

    

                          Love It Or Lose It: The Coming Biophilia Revolution by David W. Orr

"Biophilia is not all that tugs at us. The affinity for life or biophilia competes with other drives and affinities, including biophobia disguised beneath the abstractions and presumptions of progress found in economics, management and technology. Whatever is in our genes, then, the affinity for life is now a choice we must make" (Orr, 2011, p. 187).

   This reading was a fantastic page-turner and, although it's the last excerpt in the book, it serves as a wonderful opening to the impact our choices are having on our deteriorating future.
 David W. Orr has managed to convey a stark truth to humanity and what has come of our manner of thinking about nature throughout the years. Otherwise, known as biophilia, this concept in of itself contains the key to one day living in a sustainable environment. It serves as an innate capacity to feel compassion and admiration for the natural world- as harder as it may be for us to see, when compared to other species. This can be further seen based on the Greeks and their definition of love. Biophilia, for example, would directly fall directly under eros- a selfish type of love that only considers self-interest. This is exactly the type of "love" that is being seen towards nature in our world nowadays, only disguised as a nasty term called biophobe.

"If by some fairly young age, however, nature has not been experienced as a friendly place of adventure and excitement, biophilia will not take hold as it might have. An opportunity will have passed, and thereafter the mind will lack some critical dimension of perception and imagination" (Orr, 2011, p. 200).

Photo by Warren McLaren

   I found myself nodding in complete agreement as soon as I had read this quote. There's honestly nothing more that drives me and inspires me than knowing we have the chance to change the minds of coming generations for the better. This is one of the thousands of reasons why this right here is why I hope to one day work as a child psychologist. The sad reality is that a large portion of us are now being considered "biophobes" and children are, in turn, being raised to be so. This is a word that is truly frightening after having read this excerpt by Orr. To simply think that kids are being raised in a type of society which encourages staying in doors and sheltered from the outside world, whether that be watching TV, being on a phone, etc. By simply looking around in a restaurant I can immediately spot countless number of children under the age of 10 with their eyes glued to their phones given by none other than their parents to keep them from either crying or throwing a tantrum. The author's proposal is to have, "...the will to reshape education in a way that fosters innate biophilia and the analytical abilities and practical skills necessary for a world that takes life seriously" (p. 206). I also absolutely stand with the fact that, nowadays, children are rushed to being adults too soon "only to become childish adults unprepared for parenthood" (p.205). It's a vicious cycle that must be stopped, and soon.

"Similarly, in the emerging global economy, in which capital, technology, and information move easily around the world, how do we protect the people and the communities left behind? Now more than ever the rights of capital are protected by all the power money can buy. The rights of communities are protected less than ever. Consequently, we face complex decisions about how to protect communities and their stability on which biophilia depend" (Orr, 2011, p. 208)

Native Americans march to the site of a sacred burial ground that was disturbed by bulldozers building the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

   The first thing that popped into my head as soon as I read this quote was the Dakota Access Pipeline. It serves as a perfect, present-day example about what Orr is describing. This quote resonates on a high level. Orr provides the foundation to what is being seen on a global scale nowadays, and the Dakota Access Pipeline is just one of the many issues. The pipeline has been controversial in regards to its necessity in the long run, and the potential impact it would have on the environment. The construction of this pipeline was projected to run from the Bakken oil fields to Illinois, crossing beneath the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, including Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Those in the Standing Rock tribe, as well as numerous others who followed suit, have considered the huge impact the pipeline would have to the region's clean water and ancient burial grounds. Early last September, construction workers had bulldozed a big portion of sacred land belonging to the tribe. When protesters had re-entered the sight they were met with attack dogs those of which managed to bite a fair share of protesters. This disgusts me to no end. This Indian tribe should not be going through these protests. This is their land, and the future of our environment that is being pushed aside for the pumping of oil.
   Unfortunately, there is a line that is being clearly crossed. People have already jumped over this imaginary line to the point where they're being highly inconsiderate and selfish to others that are simply trying to protect their land and well-being of the environment.

Source: Orr, D. (2011). Excerpt from Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect. In University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future. Acton, MA. XanEdu Publishing 

A World in Need of Change

   

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a unique view of Earth from the spacecraft's vantage point in orbit around the moon. Photo by NASA.

Summer sunset at Sanibel beach. Photo by D Martinez.

"As in all living systems, particular individual contributions add up to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Each of us has pieces of solutions that we apply in our particular part of the world and taken together. Each of us has pieces of solutions that we apply in our particular part of the world and taken together, these pieces are beginning to assemble into a potential picture of a sustainable world" (Robertson, 2014, p. 7). 

 To begin with, I am extremely glad this is a required course for all FGCU students. I've always had a passionate stance on environmental studies and I can only hope that with the implementation of this course, many students will become more aware of how delicate our world currently is. The numerous ways we can contribute and aid with bettering our world is bountiful. But it's beginning with being further educated about the foundation of what contributes to the issues being faced that will spark the match on what can be done in years to come. One day the impact will hopefully have a ripple effect in ultimately giving coming generations the opportunity to be the change for our future we so desperately need. From the second I read this particular quote I felt driven. Driven in the sense that I felt faith in humanity. We have the power to bring about a change for the better. Our world gives so much to us, yet we take it all for granted because of our insatiable greed for more. Small contributions from one person alone can add up to something incredibly powerful. If we all contribute our share to better the world who knows the wonders we could be able to transform?



"In spite of these efforts economic gaps continue to widen, global average temperatures continue to increase, and the environment continues to deteriorate"(Robertson, 2014, p. 18)

Vince Ambrosia of NASA’s Ames Research Center, gives a presentation about “NASA and Wildfires: Science and Technology Supporting the Nation” at the NASA booth at the fall 2015 meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. Photo by NASA.

    Looking back at how far we've come with the environmental movement shows how long these prevalent issues have been in our presence from numerous years. Unfortunately, of the many voices declaring the stark realities of our environment, a significant change has yet to occur. Countries far and wide have come together to help resolve one of the biggest problems currently being faced, more specifically to that of climate change such as in the first series of reports called the Millenium Ecosystem Asssessments by the United Nations. But, "the changes in policy and practice required are substantial and not currently underway" (Robertson 2014, 18), and this in of itself can be further a building block to the increasing temperatures and deterioration in the economy and environment as has been previously stated. 
   I've been fortunate enough to grown up in an environment in which I was taught to not let things go to waste- be it water, placing plastics in the recycling bin or shopping with a cloth bag. And although yes, I would agree with the quote stated prior, although there are various policies and practices that have been established to aid sustainability I still feel as though education on the matter is not being extensively taught and enforced about the current dire state our world is in. If anything, I believe it i terribly undermined. Policies will have more of a chance to succeed if we as community come together and start teaching new generations about the crisis our world is facing. As Martin Luther King Jr. once famously said in his speech, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" (1963).

The rusty patched bumblebee is the first bumblebee to be designated as an endangered species in the U.S. Photo by Alamy.

"In recent decades, scientists and planners began to realize that we as a planet have many problems that are connected, including poverty, health, overpopulation, resource depletion, food and water scarcity political instability, and the destruction of the life support systems we all depend on. We cannot fix one problem in isolation because they are all connected"(Robertson, 2014, p. 5)

The "triple bottom line", otherwise known as the "three E's", are what I believe to be the key to one day hopefully reaching some stability. The "three E's" consists of environment, economics, and equity. I can almost guarantee that if the preservation of our environment (or ecology) is kept, our resources are distributed justly, and there is social equality, then maybe, just maybe we reach balance and make our world shine brighter in the near future.

This blog's author at "Las Tres Olas" in Santa Marta, Colombia. Photo D.Martinez 

Sources
Robertson, M. (2014). Sustainability principles and practice. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
King, M. L., Jr. (1963, August 28). I have a dream. Speech presented in Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D. C. .