Solar Charged: A Prescription for Nature Deficit Disorder

originally published March 23, 2023

Angle & Perspective – Journal

{Informative Article}

Article 2 : Part of the Solar Charged Series

Solar Charged: A Prescription for Nature Deficit Disorder

Nature prescriptions? Yes. It’s a thing, and it’s about time. Evidence-based research now shows the healing power of natural environments as being significant enough to be prescribed. Informed Doctors are signing up for the benefit of their patients…but you already had a hunch nature was good for you, right?

A couple of weeks ago someone shared with me their vitamin D deficiency and their doctor’s orders to “Get outside for at least 20 minutes a day”. I was impressed that the doctor actually prescribed getting outside instead of taking a vitamin supplement, but at the same time, its disheartening that we live in a time where “getting outside” has to be prescribed or that there’s a need for readily available vitamin D supplements to replace our lack of sun-exposure and outdoor time.

Let’s go ahead and get something straight. The need for getting outside in the sunlight is a real need, not a want or bonus if we get to it sometime here or there. Unless you have that rare disease that has you hiding from the sun (xeroderma pigmentosum1), the outdoors is your best friend. If we’re not getting outside regularly it has negative effects on our physical and even mental health.

When we’re outdoors we automatically have the urge to move more, which gets our heart pumping, lungs expanding and muscles stretching, but simply being in the sunlight helps improve circulation and increase cardiac output (the amount of blood pumped with each contraction)2. The never-ending expanse of the natural world leads us to a sense of freedom and exploration which frees our minds to rest in a more peaceful and contended state. Nature is good for us.

Unfortunately, research shows that an estimated 35% of Americans and 50% of the world population have a deficiency in Vitamin D3, which comes from a lack of sun exposure. That’s a lot of people who aren’t getting the full benefits of being solar-charged (a term I made up myself 😉 :-D) and this has created a crisis compelling terms like “nature deficit disorder” and “nature therapy” to arise amongst concerned parties and enthusiasts.

Thankfully, there are advocates progressing in both Canada and the US to offer nature prescriptions as a real and legitimate form of PCP care and this could mean seeing those ugly percentages mentioned earlier fall as deficiencies are repaired. These doctors assert that nature is not only good for our physical health but also our mental and emotional well-being.

Nature is the ‘fourth pillar of health, just as important as healthy diet, exercise and lifestyle,’ says Dr. Melissa Lem, director of the national nature prescription program called PaRX.4

Dr. Melissa Lem promotes nature as important to lessening the symptoms of low-level anxiety and depression. She is a Vancouver family physician and Founder and Director of PaRx, Canada’s national nature prescription program (powered by the BC Parks Foundation).

“There’s a real sense of peace and composure you get from being outside and away from everything,” says Dr. Aaron L. Baggish, associate director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. An article from Harvard Health by Julie Corliss points out that stress is a big contributor to high blood pressure and heart disease risk and that doing things like taking hikes in nature can help reduce stress and thus build resistance to illness.5

Getting away from it all and into nature can help remind us that life goes on outside of our own little worlds and that there’s so much more out there just contently existing, waiting for us to step into and appreciate. And now, there’s research and physicians to help back up these notions…

Park Rx America was launched in 2013, one of the first park-prescription plans. Their website provides analysis of the studies conducted showing improvement in multiple areas of health:

Increased physical activity through outdoor play and exercise help with childhood obesity rates -with greater physical and mental benefits. A lower prevalence of diabetes was linked to neighborhood greenness. Hypertension (high blood pressure) decreased through time spent in nature and cardiovascular health improved. Studies show that immune function strengthens and sleep is restored with the help of nature therapy. A decrease in asthma, decreased myopia (nearsightedness), and even improved birth rates are helped by nature exposure.

Park Rx America further provides analyses of studies on mental health care being improved by nature therapy. Less depression and improved mood were found in association with time spent in and around nature. Stress and anxiety are shown to be alleviated by simple walks in the forest and ADHD symptoms improved while fostering an increase in focus and attention. A better sense of self, well-being, resiliency, and less rumination were all connected to the offerings of nature.6

A list of links to the studies for both physical and mental health can be found here: https://parkrxamerica.org/providers/human-benefits-of-nature.php

Other studies have shown how nature therapy can help with addictions, wound healing, creativity, general restfulness and much more to cover overall wellness.7

But let’s put the science aside for a moment. Do we really need facts and data to be presented before we believe that “getting outside is great”? I think we all instinctively know that already. The problem is that we don’t act on it and we’ve allowed ourselves to be dictated by science and numbers for too long. Instead of using our common sense and natural intuition for discernment…and probably a little laziness on our own parts, we’ve relied too much on textbook data and not enough on the inherited indigenous knowledge tucked away somewhere in our subconsciousness. Not surprisingly, getting out in nature can help us fine-tune these senses back into balance and energize our appetite for more pure forms of healing.

What is Nature Deficiency Disorder?

Back to technicalities…while nature prescriptions are now being taken more credibly, nature deficit disorder is still waiting for further credentials from the scientific and medical communities to be fully validated, but that isn’t stopping promoters from continuing to use the term as a way to increase awareness and urge the notion on that we have a natural need for nature.

I first heard the term from an advertisement for the book Vitamin-N, authored by Richard Louv, most known for his international bestseller Last child in the woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder and also his authored book, The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature Deficit Disorder.

He is an author and journalist as well as co-founder and chairman of the Children and Nature Network on a mission to eradicate nature deficit disorder in children and adults through promoting Vitamin-N Challenges that help connect children, families, and communities to nature.8

Take a Vitamin-N Challenge here! (no affiliation)

Vitamin N Challenge

The idea behind nature deficit disorder is the same that I personally subscribe to: that we are not spending enough time in the great outdoors and its causing damage to our well-being and even further damage to our world. This is leading to dissociation with our partnership to steward and live in harmony with all nature, resulting in effects such as climate change (a topic to be covered in a later article).

Mr. Louv is just one of many who have subscribed to the idea that there’s a huge need for more connection in nature and that we can do something about it by encouraging a lifestyle embracing more connection to nature and each other. And for some of us, there’s a deep spiritual connection as well.

Personal insight:

I found all of this information through exploring support for my own experience being outdoors and wanting to encourage others to do the same for their own benefit. I noticed a very clear change in my physical health, eye-sight, and especially mental health about 7 years ago when my son was born and I left the workplace to become a stay-at-home parent, giving me more access to outdoor time.

I knew sun exposure and fresh air were really important for his health and my own, so from an infant, I made sure to get him outside every day as a routine for “solar charging”. When I started babysitting, the decision to get the kids outside every day became even more of a no-brainer, as their behavior after being indoors for too long was impossible to manage, and was only remedied by getting them outside where they calmed immediately. It was very obvious for me to see the connection between behavior and connecting with nature outdoors as a solution.

Ventana Wildlife Society, which offers Nature Prescription programs says, “When people have access to meaningful outdoor experiences their health, quality of life, and social well-being improve, and in turn their communities become stronger and more sustainable. Everyone deserves the opportunity to enjoy time outdoors, because when people connect with nature we all benefit.”

My advice to you… Get outside! Spend some exploring the unknown, get lost in the wilderness for a while and see what surprises you find. They may be hiding in the smallest and least likely to be seen places. 🙂 And as you solar charge your internal batteries you are increasing your longevity and ultimately solar-charging your life.

Charged via Connection,

iam:ForeverBlessed