Mental health and nature deficit disorder are related?

I read "Can playing in the dirt make you smarter?" and was even more convinced that a daily dose of nature is important in our mental and physical well-being. It is even more important in Singapore as we live in high-rise apartments and do not come into contact with soil and gardening is not in our list of things to do everyday or even on weekends.

Linda Buzzell, a psychotherapist, wrote about this in http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-buzzell/garden-guide-can-playing_b_591254.html

"The science supporting the mental health benefits of gardening and outdoor activities in general just gets stronger with each new study. We need to help our kids -- and ourselves -- recover from what author Richard Louv (Last Child in the Woods) calls "nature deficit disorder."

These studies encourage all of us to support our local communities by building a school garden at every educational institution in our area, increasing the availability of community gardens for everyone who wants a plot of soil to dig their fingers into and -- perhaps most important -- shrinking our lawns and growing some of our own food."

The original article is found at www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100524143416.htm

I also wrote about this in this blog earlier, in May. It is found at http://asal-sakti.blogspot.com/2010/05/fun-filled-carefree-and-myopia-free.html

Cheers

Fun-filled, carefree and myopia-free childhood days

Hi,



I have always wondered why my own childhood days seemed more fun and carefree than that of my children's. Now I have found an answer. OK, maybe a partial answer.

I used to spend my early childhood outdoors, running around mostly barefooted and sun-baked. Now scientists at Sage Colleges in New York have discovered that exposure to certain soil bacteria, called Mycobacterium vaccae, can reduce anxiety and increase learning capabilities when ingested(eaten) or inhaled(breathed in). So dirt makes you happier and smarter.

Spending time in nature stimulates neuron (brain) growth ans causes serotonin levels to increase. This chemical is known to decrease anxiety and have antidepressant benefits.

"We found that mice that were fed live M. vaccae navigated the maze twice as fast and with less demonstrated anxiety behaviours as control mice," said Matthews.

The effect of the bacteria did not last for long. This means spending periods of time outdoors would need to be part of a regular routine for creating a learning environment in schools in the future.


Please read this article to find out more.

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/health-well-being/stories/breathing-soil-bacteria-makes-you-smarter

I also remembered another unrelated article which proved that spending at least one hour outdoors everyday will prevent myopia in children. We all know that the incidence of myopia or short-sightedness in Singapore is one of the highest in the world.

Here we have two reasons why people of my generation, those born in the 50s and earlier were happy, carefree and required fewer tuition classes than the the youngsters today. We played outdoors in the sun surrounded by nature.

Cheers