We have learnt in the human-nature relationship section that deprivation of nature experience can impact our attitudes (psychological construct) and behaviors. However, that is not all to it. As you can see in this section, environment, specifically a deprivation of experience can have impact on health and also well-being.

Biophilia hypothesis

Biophilia hypothesis describes a fundamental relationship between human and nature. Known as “love of nature”, humans possess genetic evolutionary-based affinity for the natural environment. Evolutionary theory states that human are adapted to live in green environment. However, due to the rapid urbanization in society today, majority people do not experience green environment as much as our ancestors do. Moreover technological advancement has increased our convenience of staying indoor most of the time.  Therefore, mismatch that is produced by the violation of the rule of living in a green environment would produce stress and affect our personal well-being. It was further argued that the lack of natural environment in urban areas which involves changing the natural landscape into built environment would affect the emotional and physical health of the people. Therefore, Singaporeans presumably are vulnerable to increased stress, given the loss of natural ‘healing’ properties of nature.

Nature deficit disorder

Children living in the urbanized cities are victims of the deprivation of nature experience. Children in the current generation have decreasing opportunities to interact with nature. Together with technological advances, children in today’s society are overwhelmed with stimulations and they might just forget about going outside and would choose to stay indoor. As the attitudes and beliefs are passed from their parents who have already lost touch with nature due to living in an urbanized settings, therefore the psychological impact can post as a long-standing problem passed down from generation. As such, the well-being of the children is our concern. As children would develop into adults, so therefore it can be promising by focusing on interventions in the children population. By nurturing the right attitudes by increased exposure to nature, hopefully this would encourage the future generation to be able to reconnect with nature.

Nature experience forms an important aspect for child’s development. Richard Louv’s nature deficit disorder describes how the deprivation of exposure to natural environment will result in a child having behavioral problems. He wrote a book titled ‘The last child in the woods’ depicts a realistic problem that children in today’s society face. The disorder is not classified under the DSM-IV as a real mental disorder. Basically, humans have an inherent love for nature and having opportunities to interact with nature is an important aspects of development. However, children living in the urbanized settings are lacking in opportunities to interact with nature. They often have restrictions eg. from parents to explore natural environment on their own. Research has shown that reduced exposure to nature is strongly link to disorders such as attention-deficit disorder and depression in children. Therefore we can see that deprivation of nature not only result in a poor human-nature relationship, but it could also lead to adverse health impacts on children.