If we examine bullying behaviours through a medical rather than a moral lens, a proven strategy to change this destructive conduct is through exposure to nature. If we treated bullying outbursts as indicative of a brain health issue, we might respond with a remedy rather than punishment. This different way of thinking and responding is not meant to remove accountability. Rather, it acknowledges that the way we handle bullying at present frequently fails to prevent it or stop it. In fact, accountability increases when we recognize that bullying behaviours are comparable to an illness that the perpetrator has, and that must not be allowed to infect targets and bystanders.

What’s amazing is just how effective nature exposure is at providing a way for perpetrators to resist bullying, and to recover if they have indeed contracted the “virus.” In discussing the way nature can heal the anger and impulsivity correlated with being exhausted and stressed, Eva Selhub and Alan Logan refer to nature’s effect as a “vaccine.” This different approach—treating bullying as an illness, not as an evil—has the potential to stop the bullying epidemic from spreading even further.

The kind of bullying that responds to nature interventions is the abrasive, not the abusive kind. As I have explained and unpacked in a previous article, abrasive bullying arises in situations in which individuals feel highly stressed and under threat. Whether for adults at work or children at school, the stress and threat could be from pressure, demands on performance, a lack of support, or a feeling of being out of control. Often when stress is difficult to manage and relieve, a person may........

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