Take a Bath in the Forest

Nature Deficit Disorder

Many of us spend our days fundamentally separated from nature.  We work indoors, tracking time by the perpetual circling of the hands of the clock, and following the seasons by the cycle of Starbucks specials.  The demands of working life progress independently of any natural rhythm--and even when brief escapes afford us the chance to notice some resilient natural presence in our lives ("Oh right, I'm part of a large, complex, magnificent network of living things!"), it is all to easy to fade back into the grey of indoor life.

In Last Child in the Woods, writer Richard Louv coins the term "nature deficit disorder."  NDD describes this very phenomenon of our alienation from nature, and orients it in relationship to contemporary epidemics of behavioral problems, mood disorders, and obesity.  While Louv's book focuses on children, many adults can read his work and identify with the alienation from nature and impacts he describes.  Perhaps NDD is at the root of our feeling drained after the workday, of a sense that we are somehow always falling short of truly thriving.  The conclusion seems simple then--anyone wandering around with NDD can just go outside, right?  And yet few conventional resources exist for individuals who suffer, knowingly or not, from nature deficit.  Those who seek medical care for their symptoms are often recommended drugs or therapy; those who do not are in effect penalized for their inability to participate as efficiently as possible in a production-oriented society.  Even those who may vocalize their need to restore meaningful connections with nature are hampered by 9-to-5 office work schedules, or dismissed as somehow less serious or hardworking than their stressed out, fluorescent-lit superiors.

Shinrin-yoku

In Japan, spending time outdoors is an accepted recommendation for healthy living, captured in the concept of "shinrin-yoku."  Shinrin-yoku translates as "forest bathing," and describes the regular practice of going to a natural area to rejuvenate both mentally and physically.  In a 2010 study, Tsunetsugu et al. summarize the existing research on how the sensory environment of the forest affects physiological markers like salivary cortisol levels, blood pressure, and immune system activity.  While the paper cedes that many of this existing work has been small scale, the Society of Forest Medicine organizes Japanese M.D.s and Ph.D.s to continue exploring these effects of shinrin-yoku on a more ambitious level.  Pursuing similar leads, researchers within the U.S. also are turning to nature as a powerful therapeutic tool, looking at how exposure to nature decreases mental fatigue, improves recovery post-surgery, and supports more complex psychological experiences of nonduality and transcendence.

In the context of this growing evidence, there seems to be a great deal of potential in advocating shinrin-yoku for patients exhibiting signs of nature deficit disorder.  Certainly our traditional medical practice could accommodate prescribing nature walks in a serious way, in conjunction with whatever treatments are presently indicated for NDD symptoms.  As treatments go, getting outside is certainly a low cost option, and one that could be initiated without much risk even while more robust empirical evidence accumulates.  So while we may not leave the doctor with a prescription for nature anytime soon, we certainly are in a position to try it ourselves.  We can drive to a local farm, to conservation land; we can walk to one of our community parks.  If we take responsibility for scheduling ourselves some nature baths, we may find ourselves pleasantly surprised by how refreshed we feel.