September 22, 2025 • 9 mins
A brief discussion of what Richard Louv called 'Nature Deficit Disorder' - the effects of a lack of interaction with the natural world - and some wonderful suggestions to solve it!
"Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv
https://richardlouv.com/books/last-child
Learn more about Personal Rewilding online at www.rhnaturereconnect.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-be-told-paranormal--3589860/support.
"Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv
https://richardlouv.com/books/last-child
Learn more about Personal Rewilding online at www.rhnaturereconnect.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/truth-be-told-paranormal--3589860/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome the Truth be told about Going Wild. I'm your host,
Robert Hensley, and this is the podcast inspired by the
principles of personal rewilding. Have you ever heard of nature
deficit disorder? It is a non clinical disorder that was
theorized by the author Richard Louve in the two thousand
and five book The Last Child in the Woods, and
(00:31):
this theoretical disorder, again not a clinical diagnosis, basically is
a proposed set of behavioral problems that result when humans,
especially children, spend less time outside. And the things that
we see in children that give us a sense or
(00:53):
an idea that they may lack this connection to the
natural world. Right. There are mental and emotional effects such
as increased stress and anxiety, depression, attention and focus issues,
difficulty coping with stress, a weakened sense of well being.
(01:14):
We see an increase in obesity, vitamin D deficiencies, as
well as cognitive and behavioral effects such as a diminished
use of the five senses, increased aggression, and other behavioral problems,
and poor academic performance falls along into that. And then
(01:36):
we also just overall see a weakened sense of environmental
literacy and reduced ecological stewardship, people who just don't know
how to effectively connect with or relate to the natural world.
And so all of this, of course is caused by
(01:57):
reduced human interaction with the natural world. So if we
think about how our world has become increasingly urbanized, how
reliant we are on technology, and this pervasive culture a
fear that limits how people interact with the natural world
(02:20):
can really lead to these societal and lifestyle changes that
kind of increase the probability that our children or even
ourselves adults, can also experience nature deficit disorder. And so
for me, I think to my my niece and to
(02:42):
my younger cousins, and you know, I remember growing up
and we were kind of shooed out of the house,
sent out into the woods or into the park to play.
And you know, we could spend all day outside using
our imaginations, connecting with the natural world, really just getting
(03:04):
dirty and having fun. And I see the children now
who have very little access to or very little interest
in walking away from their computers or their gaming consoles
or there or not having a you know, a phone
taped to their hand, and you know, and and just
they have a very different mindset and perspective on the planet,
(03:28):
one that I don't know is the most healthy. But
who am I to say that's what the experts are for.
But I wanted to talk about nature deficit order today
because I think that there are steps that we can
all take to really kind of try to solve something
(03:51):
like nature deficit disorder. How do we, you know, take
a moment to kind of walk this back for our kids,
for our neighbors, for our communities, you know, And a
lot of this really comes down to simple things that
can be done very cheaply, doesn't require spending a lot
(04:14):
of money. It's simply as simple as stepping outside. Right,
whether you're in a city or if you're in a
rural area, you can take a picnic with your family,
go outside, eat a meal, share a meal, cloud watch. Right,
(04:36):
how many of you remember as a child laying back
in the grass and staring at the clouds and watching
them shift and become different shapes or finding shapes within
the clouds, you know, build a bird feeder together, Hang
a bird feeder, you know, buy a suit block and
hang it in a tree somewhere outside of a window
(04:58):
that your family can sit together and birds and talk
about the birds that are coming in and their behaviors,
and maybe what seeds or things that we see that
they eat that other birds don't, or vice versa. Planting
trees or flowers, flower gardeners of flower gardeners, flower gardens,
gardens in general are a great way to again be
(05:20):
able to teach our children about self reliance, growing their
own food, about the process of growth, how plants grow,
how fruits form, the cycles of the natural world very important.
And this was one that I hadn't thought of, and
I saw it on a list and I thought it
(05:41):
was great. Was digging up worms. You know, whether you
plant on fishing or not, you know, digging up worms
and putting them in a can and selling them to
a bait shop is a really interesting way to kind
of talk about how worms work and how to digest
organic material and turn it into dirt, you know, even
(06:03):
making mud pies, letting your kids get their hands in
the dirt with a little bit of water and making
some mess and having something that is just fun and imaginative.
You know. The other thing, too is check with your
local state parks. State parks have all kinds of free
programming available to communities that all you have to do
(06:26):
is show up. Sometimes they are entirely educational. Sometimes they're
scavenger hunts. They're all kinds of things that are happening
that again are free, that don't cost a lot of money,
that allow you to enjoy time with your family, teach
your children, and get everyone outside and really kind of
curb this idea of nature deficit disorder. You know, here
(06:50):
on the in the northeast we are, you know, we're
starting to see the leaves changing colors. So there's this
idea of you know, starting the idea of collecting leaves,
and do you do once you have them? Do you know,
they can be laminated, You can create mobiles. We could
create a scrap book with fallen leaves. We could literally
just create a pile of leaves on a table and
(07:12):
add some fruit and practice life drawing skills or still
life drawing skills, some just some really interesting opportunities that
you know, sometimes slip our mind. You know, adults are
just as likely to forget that they can connect with
(07:34):
the outside world, with nature, with their local environment, and
find ways of spending time and thinking about the natural
world right outside their doors. Right, But I thought that
it was really interesting to discuss today, this idea of
nature deficit disorder. Again, it's not a clinical diagnosis. It
(07:57):
is a theoretical proposition that does seem to hold some weight, right.
I don't think that it's I mean, from too far
out of left field for any of us. We understand
how this happens, and we understand also that there are
opportunities for us to curb this, to solve the issue
(08:20):
right for ourselves and for our children and for others
in our community. And it should be part of our
greater conversation when it comes to how we are utilizing
or trying to conserve our green spaces and understanding the
importance of having those spaces available to us. So I
(08:41):
just want to say thank you so much for listening today.
I hope that you will check out some of what
I'm working on with personal rewilding on my website at
www dot rh nature reconnect dot com. Again, that's www
dot rh Nature reconnect dot com. You can also use
the contact form there send me a message. I would
(09:04):
love to hear some of your thoughts if you have
questions about personal rewilding or need some ideas of things
that you might be able to do with your child
or your family and your area. I'm happy to help
you find those things. And remember there are three opportunities
each week from new content from the Truth be Told
Family of podcasts on the Club Paranormal channel on YouTube.
(09:26):
That is Tony Sweet with the original Truth be Told
on Fridays, Bonnie Birker with Truth be Told Transformation on Wednesdays,
and Truth be Told about Going Wild on Mondays. All
of those shows go live at three pm Pacific six
Eastern on their respective days until next time.
Welcome the Truth be told about Going Wild. I'm your host,
Robert Hensley, and this is the podcast inspired by the
principles of personal rewilding. Have you ever heard of nature
deficit disorder? It is a non clinical disorder that was
theorized by the author Richard Louve in the two thousand
and five book The Last Child in the Woods, and
(00:31):
this theoretical disorder, again not a clinical diagnosis, basically is
a proposed set of behavioral problems that result when humans,
especially children, spend less time outside. And the things that
we see in children that give us a sense or
(00:53):
an idea that they may lack this connection to the
natural world. Right. There are mental and emotional effects such
as increased stress and anxiety, depression, attention and focus issues,
difficulty coping with stress, a weakened sense of well being.
(01:14):
We see an increase in obesity, vitamin D deficiencies, as
well as cognitive and behavioral effects such as a diminished
use of the five senses, increased aggression, and other behavioral problems,
and poor academic performance falls along into that. And then
(01:36):
we also just overall see a weakened sense of environmental
literacy and reduced ecological stewardship, people who just don't know
how to effectively connect with or relate to the natural world.
And so all of this, of course is caused by
(01:57):
reduced human interaction with the natural world. So if we
think about how our world has become increasingly urbanized, how
reliant we are on technology, and this pervasive culture a
fear that limits how people interact with the natural world
(02:20):
can really lead to these societal and lifestyle changes that
kind of increase the probability that our children or even
ourselves adults, can also experience nature deficit disorder. And so
for me, I think to my my niece and to
(02:42):
my younger cousins, and you know, I remember growing up
and we were kind of shooed out of the house,
sent out into the woods or into the park to play.
And you know, we could spend all day outside using
our imaginations, connecting with the natural world, really just getting
(03:04):
dirty and having fun. And I see the children now
who have very little access to or very little interest
in walking away from their computers or their gaming consoles
or there or not having a you know, a phone
taped to their hand, and you know, and and just
they have a very different mindset and perspective on the planet,
(03:28):
one that I don't know is the most healthy. But
who am I to say that's what the experts are for.
But I wanted to talk about nature deficit order today
because I think that there are steps that we can
all take to really kind of try to solve something
(03:51):
like nature deficit disorder. How do we, you know, take
a moment to kind of walk this back for our kids,
for our neighbors, for our communities, you know, And a
lot of this really comes down to simple things that
can be done very cheaply, doesn't require spending a lot
(04:14):
of money. It's simply as simple as stepping outside. Right,
whether you're in a city or if you're in a
rural area, you can take a picnic with your family,
go outside, eat a meal, share a meal, cloud watch. Right,
(04:36):
how many of you remember as a child laying back
in the grass and staring at the clouds and watching
them shift and become different shapes or finding shapes within
the clouds, you know, build a bird feeder together, Hang
a bird feeder, you know, buy a suit block and
hang it in a tree somewhere outside of a window
(04:58):
that your family can sit together and birds and talk
about the birds that are coming in and their behaviors,
and maybe what seeds or things that we see that
they eat that other birds don't, or vice versa. Planting
trees or flowers, flower gardeners of flower gardeners, flower gardens,
gardens in general are a great way to again be
(05:20):
able to teach our children about self reliance, growing their
own food, about the process of growth, how plants grow,
how fruits form, the cycles of the natural world very important.
And this was one that I hadn't thought of, and
I saw it on a list and I thought it
(05:41):
was great. Was digging up worms. You know, whether you
plant on fishing or not, you know, digging up worms
and putting them in a can and selling them to
a bait shop is a really interesting way to kind
of talk about how worms work and how to digest
organic material and turn it into dirt, you know, even
(06:03):
making mud pies, letting your kids get their hands in
the dirt with a little bit of water and making
some mess and having something that is just fun and imaginative.
You know. The other thing, too is check with your
local state parks. State parks have all kinds of free
programming available to communities that all you have to do
(06:26):
is show up. Sometimes they are entirely educational. Sometimes they're
scavenger hunts. They're all kinds of things that are happening
that again are free, that don't cost a lot of money,
that allow you to enjoy time with your family, teach
your children, and get everyone outside and really kind of
curb this idea of nature deficit disorder. You know, here
(06:50):
on the in the northeast we are, you know, we're
starting to see the leaves changing colors. So there's this
idea of you know, starting the idea of collecting leaves,
and do you do once you have them? Do you know,
they can be laminated, You can create mobiles. We could
create a scrap book with fallen leaves. We could literally
just create a pile of leaves on a table and
(07:12):
add some fruit and practice life drawing skills or still
life drawing skills, some just some really interesting opportunities that
you know, sometimes slip our mind. You know, adults are
just as likely to forget that they can connect with
(07:34):
the outside world, with nature, with their local environment, and
find ways of spending time and thinking about the natural
world right outside their doors. Right, But I thought that
it was really interesting to discuss today, this idea of
nature deficit disorder. Again, it's not a clinical diagnosis. It
(07:57):
is a theoretical proposition that does seem to hold some weight, right.
I don't think that it's I mean, from too far
out of left field for any of us. We understand
how this happens, and we understand also that there are
opportunities for us to curb this, to solve the issue
(08:20):
right for ourselves and for our children and for others
in our community. And it should be part of our
greater conversation when it comes to how we are utilizing
or trying to conserve our green spaces and understanding the
importance of having those spaces available to us. So I
(08:41):
just want to say thank you so much for listening today.
I hope that you will check out some of what
I'm working on with personal rewilding on my website at
www dot rh nature reconnect dot com. Again, that's www
dot rh Nature reconnect dot com. You can also use
the contact form there send me a message. I would
(09:04):
love to hear some of your thoughts if you have
questions about personal rewilding or need some ideas of things
that you might be able to do with your child
or your family and your area. I'm happy to help
you find those things. And remember there are three opportunities
each week from new content from the Truth be Told
Family of podcasts on the Club Paranormal channel on YouTube.
(09:26):
That is Tony Sweet with the original Truth be Told
on Fridays, Bonnie Birker with Truth be Told Transformation on Wednesdays,
and Truth be Told about Going Wild on Mondays. All
of those shows go live at three pm Pacific six
Eastern on their respective days until next time.
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