Living in an urban environment would be associated with lower risks of having depression, compared to people living in the countryside.
- Depression would affect people who live in cities less than people living in the countryside.
- This would be related to the number of greater social interactions in urban settings.
Many city dwellers opt for the countryside as a vacation destination. A return to nature experienced as relaxing, a source of well-being for the summer break. After the first confinement, some even took the plunge and moved there. They dreamed of wide open spaces, far from the traffic and noise of the city. Yet, according to a study by researchers at the University of Chicago and published in the journal PNASthe rate of depression would be higher in the countryside than in urban areas.
City dwellers have more diverse social relationships
To reach this conclusion, the authors studied the effects of socio-economic relations on well-being. This corresponds to all the social interactions that an individual can have during his day or his week, both in his personal and professional life. Indeed, living in large cities allows you to have a larger panel of contacts, from more diverse generations and social backgrounds.
According to scientists, the more social relationships a person has, the less likely they are to develop depression. And this, regardless of the quality of these relationships. A result not surprising since social isolation is generally associated with a greater risk of depression.
Exchanges promote personal development
The hypothesis that the researchers advance to explain their conclusion is that the sum of the exchanges of an individual stimulates him more, allows him to have greater goals and to achieve greater personal development. Nevertheless, they issue a limit: if social relations are more important in the city, they are also more superficial. In this study, they failed to measure the precise impact of relationship quality. Nevertheless, according to them, this variable would not be important… In other words, even taking into account the nature of these interactions, they estimate that their results would remain the same.
Identify the elements that make the city pleasant
“It would be very interesting to continue to identify the criteria of large cities that lead to these psychological benefits, while trying to eliminate some of the negative aspects of urban life such as crime, poverty and inequalities, at underline Marc Berman, one of the study’s authors. It could help us have a more sustainable future and better mental health”. The researchers intend to continue their research in this direction.
Listen to natural sounds to improve your heart rate
Among the negative aspects of the city are noise pollution such as road, rail and air traffic, as well as noises emanating from industry. Every year, noise pollution is responsible for 12,000 premature deaths across Europe, according to theEuropean Environment Agency.
According to a recent study published in the journal Proceedings National Academy of Science Listening to natural sounds could lessen some of the harmful effects of this noise pollution by reducing, for example, heart rate, blood pressure or the level of stress and annoyance. So, even if statistically the inhabitants of the countryside are more at risk of depression, this natural environment retains undeniable virtues!
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