HalfManHalfTitanium wrote:There are some fantastic, inspiring stories on this thread about how the hills (and dogs) are our friends - helping people beat depression, anxiety and stress.
A book could be written about this subject (maybe it has been?...)
Two things have puzzled me over the years:
- why do there seem to be more mental health problems around these days?
- why does the outdoors help?
I did a post a while ago (on this thread, maybe?) with my first thoughts on it. But thinking about it more, the answer has become a bit clearer to me, I think.
It occurred to me the other night, when the word "Angst" came up in conversation. I remembered that the word was first used to mean what we now call "stress" or "anxiety" by the Danish writer Kierkegaard, back in the early 19th century.
Kierkegaard said that animals suffer fear, but in response to specific dangers. "Angst" is much harder to deal with, because it is unfocused. We feel bad and struggle with life - but we don't know what to do to feel better.
Like animals, our minds evolved to deal with very scary risks. Modern society has eliminated most of those risks, which is good. But, our brains are programmed to be on a constant look-out for danger.
Our brains' alarm bells still ring - but we don't know why.
Plus, we get bombarded with information telling us to buy this, look at that.
In the blink of an eye (in evolutionary terms) the human species has changed its whole environment. Our brains haven't evolved to deal with this.
No wonder that, for many of us, the outdoors is our therapy!
Tim
Cairngormwanderer's Scotsman article in this thread seems spot-on to me. Especially this quote, which expresses what I was trying to say above - but much more eloquently!
"I believe our minds are honed by evolution from our hunter-gatherer past to enjoy walking through hills and glens, canoeing along lochs, camping in peaceful surroundings and sitting around campfires.
"This stressful mad rush which life has become since the Industrial Revolution is too much for our primordial minds and can be very unhealthy for us. A balance needs to be found between working in the modern world to enjoy the benefits of progress and relaxing in the real world of quiet hills, lochs and heather." (
https://www.scotsman.com/interactive/munros#main-page-section-0)
To illustrate, here's my own screensaver pic of my kids. When I took it my son was listening to his iphone, of course...