Nature nourishes mental health of all ages

It’s a balmy 75 degrees on Daniel Island and the squirrels are jumping from palms to oaks to the top of the roof. I look out the window at the marshes that are looking more golden by the minute in the setting sun, and I’m grateful I have a view of the marsh. 

 

The open spaces are disappearing and my heart groans when I hear open spaces are going to be replaced by hundreds of apartments. I remember singing “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot!” naively thinking in my youth that this trend would abate. 

 

I ran into the editor of the Daniel Island News at the DIBA party last week, and he was interested in articles about teen health. Well, it all starts by providing open spaces for kids to play ball, to roam around in the dirt, and smell the grasses. As humans, I’m convinced we were meant to be in touch with Mother Earth far more than a man-made environment. If we want to improve the mental health of kids, teens and other folks, we need to provide more playing fields, trails and parks.

 

I often visit therapeutic wilderness programs and the farther away from civilization they are, the healthier the kids look. Their timbre is softer, they sleep better, and enjoy doing their chores and homework. I ask the therapists what makes these kids so much calmer and happier and they attribute it to the quieting and refocusing impact of nature.

 

Over the summer I visited a wilderness program in Alaska and spoke to kids hailing from New York City, Atlanta and London. They worked together to cook breakfast over an open fire and seemed pleased as punch to have produced some tasty omelet burritos themselves.

 

This may sound like an easy dish to prepare but in the wilderness the tasks need to be organized, coordinated, and carried out cooperatively with other members of the group. It turns out that kids who are diagnosed with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and executive function issues become excellent at project management. Nature provides them opportunities to become self-reliant, build confidence and self-esteem. 

 

When they arrive at a wilderness program, teens feel displaced at first, but it’s amazing how well-connected they start to feel on the inside. 

 

Kids who have waged war with their parents all their lives begin to sort out the battles they waged with themselves. They learn to take care of themselves without the use of alcohol or drugs or electronics. They learn to love themselves. That’s the point.

 

I asked the therapists what worked well for the teens in treatment, and the reply was: the magic of being in a natural environment. Mother Nature is the catalyst and equalizer. Kids are judged not by what they wear, the grades they get in school or the car they drive. While therapists manage the group discussions, I was awed by the honest and corrective feedback the boys gave each other.

 

While kids are in therapeutic wilderness, parents engage in a parallel process with their child’s therapist. They also can participate in a wilderness expedition to understand what their child is experiencing. I’ve visited hundreds of therapeutic boarding schools and mental health programs for teens, and while they all are expensive, I think wilderness programs give parents the best bang for the buck.

 

Which brings me back home to Daniel Island and the need to keep green spaces open and available to residents. It benefits everyone’s mental health. As we become more populated on this island, we don’t want to lose natural assets like a soccer field and other undeveloped resources. We need more nature trails not less to help retain our mental health. We don’t want to pave paradise and put up more parking lots. You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone.   

 

C. Claire Law, M.S.. is an educational consultant serving the Daniel Island community since 2004. Comments can be sent to claire@eduave.com.