Lack of Green Space Can Cause an Impact
Environmental neuroscience evaluates the brain, body, and the environment around a person or organism, which makes it a multiscale science. Environmental neuroscience emphasizes the importance of how an organism’s external environment can impact that organism's behavior and brain, whether it is physiological or psychological (Berman et al.). A New York Times article, “Nature Deficit Disorder is Really a Thing” by Meg St-Esprit McKivigan, emphasizes the importance of outdoor spaces in a family that lives in Brooklyn, NY, during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. As green spaces, playgrounds, and more began to close during the pandemic, it became very aware to families that these small spaces are of significant importance to the overall well-being of a person. Coupling strengths are very prominent regarding overall well-being because the lack of green space can lead to adverse mental reactions. Coupling strengths are described as forces or connections between different systems and environments that emphasize how they all rely on one another.
The COVID-19 Pandemic impacts emphasize the environmental neuroscience work that has occurred and makes it straightforward for room to improve. Numerous studies have shown the mental and physical benefits of going outside, but many people did not realize this until they were exempt from going to outdoor spaces (2020, McKivigan). Simple walks down the street or quick stops at a neighborhood park were no longer possible when it came to properly social distancing during this time. These small instances of green space caused many different reactions in other people. Not just chemically, but physical reactions began to occur in people, especially children. McKivigan’s article focused on a family with two younger children. The mother of these children, Jordan, found that her younger children began to show physical anxiety symptoms, for example acting out or even chewing on things that they usually would not. Richard Louv, a Journalist featured in McKivigan’s article, states, “As young people spend less of their lives in natural surroundings, their senses narrow, both physiological and psychologically” (McKivigan, 2020). This information, paired with the term nature-deficit disorder, which means spending less time outdoors, can cause changes in how a person behaves, proving the impact of green spaces on mental health.
There is a Hierarchal System when it comes to processing environmental neuroscience and the greenspaces that it engulfs. This means that overall greenspaces, or lack of them, impact physical and physiological health, but certain elements impact them more. Walking by trees or having plants in a home may have less impact than kids playing in a park daily and suddenly stopping. Other systems that impact greenspaces are ones of socioeconomic and racial lines. Wealthier neighborhoods and areas can afford to maintain these influential greenspaces. Environmental neuroscience is such a new topic that this system is not the only way to evaluate how the environment impacts. Many new methods are still being developed, which continues to be the question of what is next for this topic.
McKivigan’s article mentions that there is no shortage of reasons for green space when it is so prominent about how they help children and adults grow. It has been shown that introducing children to these green spaces can calm anxiety and cause them to think differently. Many families also implement art or creative time in these spaces to develop new skills. Many developmental resources could be measured to determine how greenspaces impact health.
Resources
Berman, M. G., Stier, A. J., & Akcelik, G. N. (2019). Environmental neuroscience. American
Psychologist, 74(9), 1039–1052.
https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000583
St-Esprit Mckivigan, Meg. “'Nature Deficit Disorder' Is Really a Thing.” The New York Times,
The New York Times, 23 June 2020,
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/parenting/nature-health-benefits-coronavirus-outd
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