When my kids were younger, I took them on a trip to the zoo. We had a wonderful day watching the penguins guzzling their herring lunch, the elephants being cleaned with giant extendable brushes, and orangutans doing their tyre swinging party piece.

But, as an adult, I noticed something the kids missed. The animals were behaving strangely. The monkeys had scratched themselves ‘till they bled. The proud Silverback had embarrassing bald patches. The elephants were swaying, the lions were chewing the bars of their cage and the bears had worn a path with all their pacing up and down.

Note, this was not a bad zoo, nor this an anti-zoo rant. But Google took me to the word that describes this obsessive, repetitive behaviour: zoochosis.

Stated simply, captive animals become ‘zoochotic’. They’re suffering from extreme stress which seems strange because, in theory, the zoo environment has everything an animal could ever need: their meals come regularly without having to hunt, they don’t have to worry about being attacked by predators, and they even get a full dental plan!

However, these creatures have won their physical safety at the expense of their psychological safety. These ‘wild’ animals are living lives of extreme sensory deprivation. Here they are, banged up 24/7, pacing, circling, rocking, scratching, swaying, over-grooming, bar-biting, self-harming - these behaviours result from frustration, stress and boredom.

So what does a caring society do when animals develop zoochosis?

The answer – the zoo vets ease the animals’ mental suffering with various forms of medication. Our point? They give them pills to ease their symptoms, when in actual fact it’s a non-medical problem.

They’re in captivity. That’s the problem

So, here’s a series of interesting (and very big) thoughts, what-ifs and questions…

Have humans accidentally ‘caged’ themselves? Have we somehow built an environment that’s not good for our health. Are Homo Sapiens suffering from zoochosis? Are we metaphorically ‘chewing the bars’? Big cities, fast food, sitting down, smartphones, next day delivery, screen time, working from home, box-sets… the modern world has bent over backwards to accommodate our every need. It’s given us what we thought we needed. But have ease, convenience, comfort and safety come at a price?

Are we paying with our mental health?

Which leads to a real biggy of a thought: with about 20% of the population now diagnosed with some form of neuro-divergency, what if attention disorders are not an individual problem? What if society’s got ADHD?

Let’s look at one small example of how the world might be messing with our heads.

Since forever, humans haven’t had screens and then, all of a sudden, about 20 years ago, everyone has screens, several in fact.

And guess what, anxiety has sky-rocketed in the last 20 years.

Coincidence, or human zoochosis?

Hey, I’m not a doom monger. Far from it. I love spending time online but it’s all about balance. Yes, I want the ease of modern life that these amazing gadgets provide, but I also want to achieve some big goals, create strong relationships with those closest to me and, without wishing to sound too cheesy, I do actually want to live my best life.

I’m guessing you do too?

So watch out for human zoochosis. You’ll see humans glued to screens, earphones in, eyes locked onto a screen, a bit like zombies. It’s not a great environment for humans.

It’s no wonder that we’re metaphorically ‘chewing the bars’.

So, to combat zoochosis, set yourself free. Run, play, wander, have adventures, make mistakes, be silly, get lost in the woods, explore, build dens, travel, swim, laugh, strive, fail, sleep…. but most of all, build strong relationships with your tribe… that’s the perfect human environment.

Adapted from LADULT: Navigating Safely From Boy to Man, by Andy Cope and Oliver Cope (published by Capstone).