Todd, Michael. “Is Our Disconnect From Nature a Disorder?” psmag.com. Pacific Standard, 5 April 2013. Web. 15 May 2014. http://www.psmag.com/environment/nature-deficit-disorder-outdoors-outside-54707/#.UZPqIaLrI0E.facebook
This article talks about Richard Louv’s opinion on the importance of nature’s role within a given society. Louv classifies societies tendency to ignore the importance of nature and natural spaces, suggesting that the lack of environmental engagement in a person’s life has negative effects on their mental health. Louv believes that his claim isn’t anything new or original, but it is still being ignored by the general public. His argument is that humans ignore the importance of nature and the lack of nature within a given society is not only physically harmful (obesity, overeating, overconsumption) but mentally as well. Initially, the idea of a Nature-Deficit Disorder was troubling to me. My first questions were: How is this disorder diagnosed? How would this “disorder” be quantifiable treated? What are the mental or emotional effects of being diagnosed with a disorder have on a person? I found Louv’s fabrication of a new disorder to be a product of the consumer culture we live in and maybe just another excuse for society to satisfy their pharmaceutical dependency, but Louv also makes a good point in that he uses the word “disorder” in order to approach the problem through terminology/labels a consumer culture would easily (and perhaps too eagerly) understand. I thought that aspect of this article ties into the idea of using technology as a medium through which the environment/nature can communicate through in order to reach an appropriate level of empathy (e.g. Midori-san, Spore 1.1). I do think Louv’s approach might be viewed as sensationalistic or might be seen as an unnecessary diagnosis, but I do like the idea of approaching an existing problem in a manner that is easily understood to the general public (no one really takes “exercise and eat healthy” as actual medical advice the way they would readily take prescription pills).
