As a young girl, I have always been curious and inquisitive regarding the correlation between mental health and the location in which one resides.
My Mother, for instance, is from Maramureș, a region bordering Ukraine, that pursues intensive agricultural activity, and faithfully depicts the landscape of the countryside. 🐄 🍓
My Father, on the other hand, comes from the opposite side of 🇷🇴 , at the coast of the Black Sea, Romania's treasured coastal city: Constanța. 🏖🏄♀️
My brother and I were born in Romania's capital: Bucharest, the country's most metropolitan city. 🚕 🏙
It's been made abundantly clear that parks are essential for any city, seeing as its greenery stimulates well-being. However, how is one's mental health impacted if pastures, fresh air, homemade foods, and animal friends constantly surround their peripheral vision?
According to The Conversation:
"Numerous studies have found links between high levels of air pollution and poorer mental health. A review of 111 studies even suggests that polluted air may cause changes in the brain regions that control emotions. This may increase the risk of developing anxiety and depression compared to those who breathe cleaner air.
The analysis of one study found that people who were exposed to higher levels of air pollution reported lower levels of life satisfaction. The study indicated that the negative effect of air pollution on life satisfaction can be equivalent to major life events, such as divorce.
In general, urban areas have between two to four times the levels of air pollution than rural areas, suggesting people who live in cities may be more likely to experience worse mental health as a result. However, the agricultural industry also generates high levels of air pollution meaning some rural dwellers in certain settings may also be at risk."
As stated by Healthline:
"The constant stimulation of city life can propel the body into a stressful state, known as the fight-or-flight response. That can make us more vulnerable to mental health concerns, such as depression, anxiety, and substance use.
City living can also chip away at your psychological immune system, which can be precarious for those with a family history of mental illness. According to psychologistsTrusted Source, this environmental stress can increase their risk of developing a psychiatric condition, such as anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder.
What’s more, young adults, especially millennials, often feel burnout — a stressful state of mental and physical exhaustion that can squeeze the joy out of life. Older generations may view millennials as incompetent adults who shy away from responsibility, but as Anne Helen Peterson wrote for Buzzfeed, millennials have “errand paralysis” and think they should always be working. For young adults living in cities that never sleep, this belief may be intensified, adding to the psychological hardships of urban dwelling.
It also seems traffic noise may interfere with sleep quality and cause cortisol, the stress hormone, to spike. Over time, elevated levels of this hormone can increase a person’s risk for developing cardiovascular disease.
Urban dwellers may additionally be more prone to insomnia and sleep difficulties. In a survey of more than 15,000 individuals, researchers at Stanford University found that the bright lights of a city can dampen a person’s ability to get a good night’s rest.
According to the survey, 6 percent of people living in highly lit, urban areas slept less than six hours each night. They also found that 29 percent of these urbanites were dissatisfied with the quality of their nighttime rest."
In conformity with the Mental Health Foundation:
"An important link has been found between spending time outdoors and how physically active we are.
Besides the benefits for our physical health, exercising and staying active is also good for our mental health. We know that physical activity may reduce the risk of mental health problems, like anxiety or depression, and exercising in green spaces can have an extra added benefit.
Walking or running seems to give us an extra boost when done in natural environments rather than indoors, reducing feelings of anger, fatigue, and sadness.
We don’t even need to do it for long! Exercising in green spaces for as little as five minutes was found to improve mood and feelings of self-esteem."
As per Psychiatry Advisor:
"Compared with their urban counterparts, rural Americans have higher depression and suicide rates, but are less likely to access mental health care services; specifically, 19.1% of residents aged 18 or older had a mental illness. In addition to having a mental illness, 4.9% of rural adults experienced suicidal ideation during the year.
According to Lycette et al, for every 30,000 rural Americans, there is 1 psychiatrist. Rural Americans are also less likely to seek mental health services because of a prevailing sense of shame and stigma surrounding mental illness. In addition, rural residents are less likely to be able to afford mental health services because of financial constraints and lack of health insurance."
To conclude this research investigation, it seems as though individuals who live in rural areas are more likely to experience fewer fluctuations in their mental health because of their constant exposure to nature and interactions with wildlife. Additionally, individuals situated in rural areas are less likely to use transportation, than those located in urban areas, hence increasing the amount of physical activity the aforementioned are subject to.
The lack of traffic, unbearable noise exerted from outside, and pollution compared to metropolitans, enables countryside residents to implement a more relaxed and calm mindset in relation to their environment (this is excluding financial hardship or any other life-altering events that can have a momentous impact one's mental wellbeing.)
Another potential reason that could contribute to mental stability for a countryside's population is the scarcity of competitiveness when it comes to materialistic possessions. Individuals who come from humble and modest backgrounds might prioritize fostering sustained relationships, rather than competing for a higher status regarding social class.
I really hope you enjoyed this article, and if you did I would love to see what feedback you have for me! Please leave me a comment at the end of this article to let me know what you think, and thank you to those of you who have already shared your thoughts with me via the comment feature or privately.
I would love to write a part 2 to this article, where I investigate whether living in a coastal or mountainous city increases one's mental well-being, in order to pay homage to my dad's side of the family and his upbringing.
Sending virtual hugs and lots of happiness your way! 🧸 🌻 🤪
The connection between living location and happiness is relevant to everyone, but not often talked about. This is a great article as explores this issue from a very scientific lens!