For centuries, we’ve had an intuitive sense that connecting with “nature” is good for our wellbeing. But what’s the hard evidence? What exactly is “nature” anyway? Should we be wary of it being prescribed as a catch-all cure for complex problems? And what impact does nature writing itself actually have? Science writer Lucy Jones talks to Alice Bloch about her prize-winning book ‘Losing Eden’, which surveys the mass of research – from the work of Carl Jung to cutting-edge neurology, medical and social science – on why our minds need the wild.

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Hosts: Alice Bloch and Samira Shackle
Exec Producer: Alice Bloch
Sound Engineer: David Crackles
Music: Danosongs
Image: Gemma Brunton (photo), Ed Dingli (artwork)
 
Reading list:

Lucy Jones (2020) ‘Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild’

Richard Mabey (2005) 'The Nature Cure'

Mary-Jayne Rust (2020) 'Towards an Ecopsychotherapy'

Carl Jung, collected works.

Richard Smyth (2019) ‘In search of the "nature cure"’, New Humanist magazine.