Biophilia and Recovery
The Biophilia Hypothesis and its Impact on People in Recovery for Substance Use Disorder
“Most children have a bug period, and I never grew out of mine.” -Edward O. Wilson, Naturalist
If you know me, you know the outdoors have long been an essential part of my recovery. I grew up spending lots of time outside, hiking, fly fishing, and hunting. I lost touch with those things while I was using only to find them again after I stopped. My story is not uncommon. In fact, many people, whether in recovery or not, report regular time in the outdoors being an important aspect of their mental health. Could this hypothesis be the explanation for why the outdoors are often so good for people like us? There are some interesting theories and data about why this may be the case, so let’s dive in.
Biophilia Theory
Biophilia is an interesting concept first coined by psychoanalyst Erich Fromm in his 1964 book, Heart of Man. The word literally translates from the Greek to “love of life” and according to Fromm, is more like, “the psychological orientation of being attracted to all that is alive and vital.” The concept was later expanded upon by Harvard naturalist, Dr. Edward O. Wilson in his 1984 book Biophilia to describe what he saw as “humanity’s innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes.” This includes an interest in nature and being drawn towards the outdoors.
His hypothesis is that humans have an innate sense of connection to nature and living things and that this connection has often been severed by modernity. According to him and other contemporary evolutionary biologists, the way we live now, spending most of our time inside, mostly sedentary, and surrounded by technology, rather than outdoors in the environment early humans evolved in, may be one of the reasons why so many humans in the Western world struggle with mental health issues. According to some, these issues are compounded by things like screens, social media, and other modern mainstays that our Pleistocene-era brains are simply not built for.
What Does the Research Say?
There’s plenty of research to back this up, and examples of creating a more biophilic environment are all around us. There has been a surge in green-spaces in the United States in both indoor and outdoor areas in cities, and some major companies like Google and Apple have intentionally increased plant life in their work spaces to try to stimulate creativity and create a more relaxing work environment for their employees based upon these principles.
But can this very thing be good for people with substance use disorder? The research says yes. One study, “Natural environments and craving: The mediating role of negative affect,” found that even access to gardens and greenspaces were found to reduce the strength and frequency of cravings. Another study found even seeing nature virtually reduces stress and can improve the mood of people with substance use disorder.
So go for a walk, a hike, or even go sit in a park for an hour. You don’t have to take a ten day backpacking trip to experience positive health effects from the outdoors, so get outside.
What do you think? Have the outdoors been important for your mental health? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
Sources:
Fromm, Erich (1964). The Heart of Man. Harper & Row.
Wilson, Edward O. (1984). Biophilia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-07442-4.
“Natural environments and craving: The mediating role of negative affect” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31260858/
“Virtual Nature as an Intervention for Reducing Stress and Improving Mood in People with Substance Use Disorder” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7256771/