The impact of your environment: An epidemic of depression

Up until the late 1970s and early 1980s, it was believed that the pharmacological properties of drugs like cocaine and heroin were the primary reasons for addiction to these substances. These beliefs were largely based on studies in the 50s with rats in isolated cages. These cages, called Skinner boxes, were about three times the size of a rat and had a water dispenser and a pedal that they could push. The rats in these cages were attached to a tube with a needle, and whenever the animal pushed the pedal, a shot of the drug would be injected straight into the bloodstream. The rats responded by pushing the pedal so much that some forgot to eat and ended up killing themselves.

With these experiments forming the basis of our understanding of addiction, it “showed” us that any creature exposed to heroin would just keep taking it.

Seeing this experiment for what it was, psychologist Bruce K. Alexander and his colleagues knew that there was another variable that was not yet taken into consideration: the cage itself. What the research up until then had really proven was that rats in a cage, exposed to heroin, would just keep taking it.

But rats are incredibly social animals. They normally don’t spend their lives in cages like that. In their natural habitat, they are together with other rats, climbing around and doing… well, whatever rats do. Could it be, Alexander thought, that their unnatural environment had something to do with the reason they kept choosing to take the heroin?

So Alexander and his colleagues set off to replicate the experiment but changing this variable. They built a cage that was a lot bigger, about half the size of his garage to be exact. They turned this large new home into everything a rat could want. It not only resembled the natural habitat of the rat, but it also had other rats to play with. Rat Park was born!

Half of the rats were put in Rat Park, and half in Skinner boxes. The results were obvious. Given the choice between the drug or water, these rats chose the water. They still used the heroine but acted like “recreational users,” as Alexander put it. Then they closed the water tap in the Skinner boxes for 57 days to make sure they were addicted to the substance. As soon as they were put in Rat Park after that period, these rats chose the water. They went through voluntary withdrawal and lost most of their interest in the drug.

With this one variable, Alexander and his team completely changed the outcome and, with that, our understanding of addiction. Maybe even destructive behavior. A 2001 study in the US showed that, on average, 86.9% of our time is spent indoors (the National Human Activity Pattern Survey). Only 7.6% is spent outdoors.

Would you say that the habitat we spend our time in, the offices we work in, and the schools we bring our children to would closer resemble Rat Park or a Skinner box?

For most of our history, humans have spent most of our time outside in tribes. We did not spend our lives in the cages that we have built for our own comfort. In our natural habitat, we lived together in tribes with other people, climbing around and doing… well, whatever humans do. Sounds familiar? Could it be, like Alexander thought, that our unnatural environment has something to do with the reason why we keep fleeing to our phone, our drugs, and other addictions? Could it be that by spending more time in Rat Park, connecting with our natural behavior, we could relieve some of that constant stress we try to escape from all the time? Could it have an influence on the epidemic of depression?

The answer is yes. Research in Frontiers of Psychology (2019) has shown that even just sitting in nature for 20 minutes can significantly reduce stress hormones. After an hour in nature, our attention span increases by 20% (University of Michigan), not to mention the research on the effect of nature on ADHD.

This is good news! Because you know what? Nature is right out there! A Zen saying says it all: “Sit 20 minutes a day in nature… unless you are too busy. Then you should sit there for an hour.”