Do You Have Nature Deficit Disorder?

Thought up by journalist Richard Louv, “Nature Deficit Disorder” is a lot scarier than Swine Flu. NDD causes depression, obesity, attention deficit disorder, and all kinds of other horrible hang-ups. The worst part is you can’t go to the doctor and get a prescription for it, because it doesn’t technically exist – well, no one in the medical community recognizes it as a real medical condition, and your insurance provider certainly won’t, either. But any by-the-books physician will agree with the principles of Nature Deficit Disorder: isolation from nature is so not healthy. Really, there’s not much more to the Nature Deficit Disorder definition than that.

Kids these days would rather play first-person shooters on the Xbox than cops and robbers in the woods. And as a result, there may be some long-term consequences to their mental and physical health. Louv put a twist on the age-old idea that everyone needs sunshine and fresh air in his book “Last Child in the Woods.” He went so far as to suggest that going without sunshine and fresh air for too long could be devastating. Yes, devastating. You’ll get fat and possibly even die because you’re so fat. Or you’ll get depressed and possibly kill yourself. Seriously, this is bad stuff! It’s not just that NDD sufferers look pasty.

The media has frightened moms into thinking it’s never safe to go outside. So, to compensate for this, overprotected little ones play structured sports and Wii Fit. They watch nature docos instead of actually going out and interacting with nature. Surely that’s enough “activity” and “eco education” for them! But Louv suggests it’s not enough to just be active. Kids – and their parents, too – need more than that. They need to be active outside, away from buildings and paved roads. They need some quality time with nature.

But hey, what does that really mean for us and our daily lives? Many of us are urbanites who make a living sitting in front of a computer screen forty hours a week. We’re not 400 pounds and we’re not standing on the edge of a building threatening to jump. Do we really need to get out and about? Maybe we don’t have Nature Deficit Disorder. Maybe we’re just, you know, evolving with the times. Come on, Louv’s just one of those crazy anti-technology nut jobs, right?

Anyone who’s just returned from a camping trip, however, would disagree.

Just because we’re desensitized from living in an urban cage doesn’t mean we’re doing awesome. Go for a fifteen minute jog around the neighborhood and then tell us it didn’t make you feel better than running on the treadmill at the local gym.

Don’t become a victim of Nature Deficit Disorder. Watch the sun set over the Rocky Mountains, take a nighttime dip into hot springs, enjoy a meet and greet with some bison, and put yourself in the shoes of nature loving explores Lewis and Clark. We’ve got a foolproof cure for  Nature Deficit Disorder – an American Rambler tour. Hurry and sign up before it’s too late! Trust us, you don’t want to have a mental breakdown after all.
Photo by Drew Herron.