Understanding Nature Deficit Disorder: How Disconnect from Nature Impacts Our Lives

Mary Gold is an Upstream Care for Place Fellow

Mary Gold shared her love of Nature Journaling with children and young adults this past summer.

Do you have NDD? While growing up in the city of Milwaukee, I suffered from a severe case of NDD or: Nature Deficit Disorder. As an adult, this disorder caused me to freak out when a Blue Gill fish nibbled freckles on my leg while I was wading in a lake with friends. Are you fearful about going outside in nature at night? You may suffer from this disorder too.

The average adult spends about 93% of their time inside. Sadly, most of our time outside is spent traveling from one inside location to another. Yet we live in a state blessed with so many parks, trails and natural areas. We are too busy to notice the beauty around us, or maybe we don’t see how it would benefit us to notice the birds, animals and plants.

This summer I taught classes on Nature Journaling to kids from grades 3-12. My students included every ethnicity and socio/economic background. I enjoyed listening to their stories about their favorite adventures in nature. Some of my city kids had been to the Boundary Waters for camping and canoeing. While others only remember bad memories in nature that no child should experience and many had no memories to share, others told tales of a day spent fishing with family.

One student asked me how much the nature magazine subscription that she had just been gifted, cost. I told her the amount and she said that she would rather have the money. So it goes for many; they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t understand how reading about and experiencing nature can change one’s life forever for the better. How could they know?

For those of us who can’t live without being in nature, this should be a wake-up call to get kids and teens outside more! And when you venture outside to enjoy your yard, a park or a pathway, don’t forget to bring a notebook and a pen along so you can journal in nature! Here’s how:

Put your phone away, unplug and quiet your mind
Write down what you see, smell, feel, hear and experience
Draw or paint a plant or animal you see
Notice tiny details in leaves and interesting bugs
Write your own adventure story: Today I saw………
Notice how plants and animals prefer certain locations
Be curious and ask yourself questions
Write a poem

Nature Journaling: A Cure for Nature Deficit Disorder

Empty pages waiting to be filled..
Just step into Nature, sit and be still.

Bathe in the fragrance of dawn’s early light,
Creation is singing, it’s your call to write!

Write about toads, turtles burrowed in sand..
The smell of a stink plant, a bug in your hand,

Have a mind that is open, a soul filled with dreams,
Still writing that first word, is harder than it seems.

Journal in Nature, you won’t be a nerd,
Just pick up a pen and write your first word!

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