Australians Study Nature-Deficit Disorder

Sidney Morning Herald – May 21, 2008
By Thea O’Connor

The notion of nature as medicine is centuries old but until recently there has been little scientific evidence to support the healing powers of nature. Researchers are establishing credible grounds for green prescriptions - where doctors "prescribe" contact with nature for various diseases - and for parks to be considered a national health resource.

"People with access to nearby natural settings have been found to be healthier overall than other individuals, and are more satisfied with life in general," says Dr Mardie Townsend, an associate professor in the School of Health and Social Development at Victoria's Deakin University, who has recently reviewed the research literature on nature and human health.

"Having access to appealing natural environments encourages physical activity, which has obvious benefits. It also has a calming effect, reducing stress and blood pressure, even cholesterol," says Townsend.

Simply looking at nature can be healing. During the 1980s and 1990s, a number of studies demonstrated that nature views offer a range of benefits for hospital patients, office workers, prison inmates and car commuters.

Less stress, lowered blood pressure, fewer headaches and illnesses, greater job satisfaction among workers and quicker recovery rates for post-operative patients have all been linked to feasting the eyes on natural landscapes.

"We gain life by looking at life," says Townsend. "If we see living things we don't feel as if we're living in a vacuum. Even watching a nature film or looking at pictures of natural landscapes makes a positive difference."

More recent research shows that contact with nature does more than boost personal wellbeing. It can even help cure social ills, reducing violence and crime rates.

Associate Professor Frances Kuo, founder and director of the Landscape and Human Health Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been researching the interaction between human health and our environment for at least 15 years.

In 2001, Kuo and colleagues published a study that examined the relationship between levels of vegetation and crime rates in 98 apartment buildings in a Chicago public housing development. Compared with housing blocks that had little or no vegetation, housing blocks with high levels of greenery had 48 per cent fewer property crimes and 56 per cent fewer violent crimes.

Exactly how might patches of green in a concrete jungle have such an impact? Greenery helps people to relax and renew, reducing aggression. Green spaces also bring people together outdoors, which increases surveillance and discourages criminals, the study authors suggest. Kuo's work has since been instrumental in securing $10 million for tree planting in Chicago.

Children suffering Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) also seem to benefit from access to green spaces. In one of her studies involving parents of 96 children diagnosed with ADHD, Kuo found a significant relationship between parents' ratings of their children's symptoms, and the play setting - the greener the play environment, the better the children's functioning.

Kathleen Bagot, a PhD candidate at the School of Psychology, Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine at Monash University in Melbourne, has worked with Kuo and is investigating the effects of green play in children.

"European studies show that children tend to be stronger, more flexible, and have better motor co-ordination skills and balance from playing in forest-like playgrounds compared to asphalt ones," says Bagot.

Bagot's own research is examining children's ability to pay attention in class after play periods in asphalt-dominated and vegetation-dominated playgrounds. Her study of about 500 children in 14 schools across Melbourne shows that the higher the level of vegetation in the school yard, the more highly children rate that environment as "restorative". And those children giving their playground a higher restoration rating had better attention scores in the classroom after playing in that environment.

How might vegetation improve our mental powers? "Greener playgrounds elicit fascination, which is an effortless type of interest, rather than concentration, which can be hard work," explains Bagot. "Green playgrounds offer more of a contrast to classrooms than built playgrounds and children report they are able to do more things … in greener playgrounds. This makes their play period more refreshing and their attention performance increases more."

The mental health benefits of physical activity in green environments extend to adults experiencing a mental health disorder.

A small study by the University of Essex commissioned by Mind (a mental health charity in England and Wales) compared the benefits of a 30-minute walk in a country park with a walk in an indoor shopping centre on a group of 20 people experiencing depression. It found that after the country walk, 71 per cent reported decreased levels of depression and said they felt less tense while 90 per cent reported increased self-esteem. In contrast, only 45 per cent experienced a decrease in depression after the shopping centre walk.

In its report Ecotherapy, Mind recommends that "green-exercise" be considered as a clinically valid treatment option for people experiencing mental distress. It is the combination of nature, exercise, sensory stimulation, time out and socialising that gives green-exercise a winning combination of health-enhancing properties.

Nature deficit disorder, a term coined by the US journalist Richard Louv, seems, then, to have scientific merit. Louv's book Last Child In the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder rings alarm bells about the physical, mental and spiritual costs of raising a generation of children who are increasingly alienated from the natural world.

"Stranger danger, busy parents and highly scheduled lives means these days children are less able to play freely outside," says Bagot. And technology has secured a significant share of children's mind-space, especially on weekends.

"We are certainly at risk of nature deficit disorder," says Townsend. "With increasing urban density, backyards are being lost and not adequately replaced with accessible parks. This kind of environmental deprivation takes a toll on people's capacity to live good quality lives."

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