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June 30
What if your doctor could prescribe a fishing group instead of another medication? A birdwatching club for your anxiety. An art class for your depression. Welcome to social prescribing—a healthcare movement that's changing how we think about healing by focusing on connection, not just pills.
Julia Hotz is a journalist and author of The Connection Cure, the first book to explore the science behind social prescribing. As someone who recognizes herself in ADHD symptoms—the scattered attention, the 10,000 browser tabs, the plates left out for days—she's discovered something fascinating: when do we feel our symptoms the least?
In this conversation, Julia and Tracy dive into why ADHD brains are particularly sensitive to loneliness and disconnection, and how social prescriptions can be game-changing. From Dave's fishing group that helped him overcome addiction and ADHD symptoms, to forest bathing backed by Japanese research, to bibliotherapy that eases anxiety, Julia shares real examples of how connection-based healing works.
They explore attention restoration theory, why 20 minutes in nature can work as well as Ritalin, and how moving from "what's wrong with you" to "what matters to you" can transform everything. Julia shows us how giving our brains what they actually need—connection, nature, purpose—can help us thrive alongside traditional treatments.
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YOUTUBE
"Nature is one of the few things that captures our attention without taxing it. Even just 20 minutes in nature has attention benefits on par with taking Ritalin."
- Julia Holtz
"What was so powerful about these social prescriptions wasn't that everyone has the same diagnosis—it's that they shared a passion. And for the first time, the focus isn’t what’s wrong with them, it’s what lights them up."
- Julia Holtz
"What’s almost more interesting than a diagnosis is the opposite—when do you feel your symptoms the least? That’s where social prescribing comes in."
- Julia Holtz
"We already know what works. It's just coming back to the things we loved doing when we were children."
- Julia Holtz
"When you’re in a space that doesn’t fit how your brain works, it’s easy to feel like something’s wrong with you."
- Julia Holtz
"ADHD brains need purpose, connection, and action—something that means something to us and matters to someone else."
- Julia Holtz
- Julia Hotz, journalist and author of "The Connection Cure," explains social prescribing as a healthcare movement shifting from "what's the matter with you" to "what matters to you," connecting people to community activities rather than just medication.
- Though never formally diagnosed with ADHD, Julia recognizes herself in many symptoms and explores how curiosity and creativity—hallmark ADHD traits—are actually evolutionary advantages that helped humans survive by quickly shifting attention.
- She discusses how social prescribing is gaining traction in medical schools, with doctors wanting environmental solutions since 80% of health is determined by our environments, though many don't know where to begin with community prescriptions.
- Julia shares the story of Dave, who self-prescribed daily fishing to overcome alcohol addiction and ADHD symptoms, eventually getting UK National Health System funding to offer fishing courses to others struggling with ADHD and social anxiety.
- She explains attention restoration theory from the 1980s, showing how natural environments uniquely restore attention without taxing it, with research demonstrating that 20 minutes in nature provides attention benefits equivalent to taking Ritalin.
- The conversation covers how ADHD brains are particularly sensitive to loneliness due to feeling isolated by their differences, but social prescriptions create connections based on shared passions rather than shared diagnoses.
[00:45:00 - 01:10:00] Forest Bathing, Bibliotherapy, and Practical Applications
- Julia details forest bathing (Shinrin Yoku) from 1970s Japan, where stressed workers showed decreased heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol after engaging forests with all five senses, leading to formal medical prescriptions for nature immersion.
- She describes bibliotherapy through "culture vitamins" in Denmark, where people with social anxiety participate in library read-alouds and museum visits, using stories to gain perspective and escape anxiety-inducing self-focus.
- The episode concludes with practical resources at socialprescribing.co and Social Prescribing USA's goal to mainstream this approach in healthcare by 2035, emphasizing how one meaningful connection can alter life's trajectory.
