City Life Could Change Your Brain for the Worse

City Life Could Change Your Brain for the Worse

www.wired.com

What those causes are is unknown, but many researchers have speculated that urban social environments are partly responsible. After all, cities are hyper-social places, in which residents must be constantly on guard, and have mathematically more opportunity to experience stressful interaction. Too much stress may ultimately alter the brain, leaving it ill-equipped to handle further stress and prone to mental illness.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Meyer-Lindenberg’s findings, published June 23 in Nature, are a neurological investigation into the underpinnings of a disturbing social trend: As a rule, city life seems to generate mental illness.

As somebody who used to live in Los Angeles wasting precious time sitting in traffic jams, but moved to the middle of nowhere in the high desert, this article had special meaning to me.

I can tell you ... its true!

Even if you don't believe in psychic ability, you gotta admit you are surrounded by a large amount of negative vibes in the big city - stress, impatience, intolerance, etc - while living out the daily grind.

When I used to drive up to the desert leaving all that behind, I used to feel such a relief, like a weight coming off my shoulders.

Now, it turns out maybe there is some science to that

So, if you're stuck in the big city, go for a drive to the country once in a while, and enjoy the quiet and solitude ... it's good for the mind and body.



www.wired.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I live in one of the biggest cities in the USA, NYC. I do wish to move to a more quieter, less densely populated area but don't know what to do as far as gaining employment. Plus I've lived here all my life, so I am a bit scared of the adjustment. Always been more of a home body anyway

reply to post by EthanT


*claws at the keyboard in desperate attempt to agree with Op*

fiaiiij HRRFFeaHHHHHHeeeeeeeeeaffafafgseeeeeeeeeesghgarreeeeeeeeeeelllllpRRrppjzhzhzhzhzhzhzhzhaflffl
af
afaox

I live slightly in-between dense city and vast rural forests etc. I always do my best to get out into the forest when I get the chance, usually doing photography as I explore. I think a balance between the two is s good balance. I would hate to live in of a city with know greenery around.

No crap, eh?

I grew up in a mountain village and I'm living on my own in a city just for school. There is nothing but snobby, arbitrary-rule-following people that look at me with suspicion all the time here.

Can't even start a conversation with a girl on the street without being treated with suspicion. Jeez

Born and raised in a city.

Left for what I thought was a rural area years ago.

After a little while that rural area didnt seem rural enough.

Moved again.

Better, but still I could see people and hear engines.

Im about to make another move if everything goes as planned this year. If it works out the only time I should ever see/hear another human being or signs of another human being is when at work.

Now if I could just figure out a way to pay the tax man without having to earn an income I could go completely desolate and never see any trace of another human being again.

Baby steps I guess. One move at a time.

It's gotten so bad that the simple existence of electricity makes me punchy. Good thing I went to school for computer crap.

Urban life is a relatively novel concept; it is far from being satisfactory or even complete for
that matter. Today more than ever, people need to fabricate new ideas and initiatives for our cities to adopt. Like for example... denseness control, more amiable relations among urban dwellers, etc.
Some people are not meant to live in cities--it's as simple as that;these people prefer quietness and
a minimization of their human-to-human interactions. Other people on the other hand find cities a fascinating place with many interesting things to do and observe. One can truly learn human nature from spending a day observing others in a big city.

The mental illnesses that can be contributed to cities are from people who are already most likely prone to getting that mental illness--the city with all of its evocative occurrences and people are what elicits it to the surface in that prone person.

Originally posted by aureusleo8
Urban life is a relatively novel concept; it is far from being satisfactory or even complete for
that matter. Today more than ever, people need to fabricate new ideas and initiatives for our cities to adopt. Like for example... denseness control, more amiable relations among urban dwellers, etc.
Some people are not meant to live in cities--it's as simple as that;these people prefer quietness and
a minimization of their human-to-human interactions. Other people on the other hand find cities a fascinating place with many interesting things to do and observe. One can truly learn human nature from spending a day observing others in a big city.

Good points, and people change over time too with how they feel about things like this.

When we first moved to Los Angeles, I loved it! I was in highschool and we moved right next to the beach. Used to ditch class and go surfing ... tough life. I liked it while in college too and for a little while once I got in the real world of work. But, it slowly started to eat away at me to the point I couldn't stand it anymore.

But doing much better now that I'm out ;-)

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Born and raised in a city.

Left for what I thought was a rural area years ago.

After a little while that rural area didnt seem rural enough.

Moved again.

Better, but still I could see people and hear engines.

Im about to make another move if everything goes as planned this year. If it works out the only time I should ever see/hear another human being or signs of another human being is when at work.

Now if I could just figure out a way to pay the tax man without having to earn an income I could go completely desolate and never see any trace of another human being again.

Baby steps I guess. One move at a time.

It's gotten so bad that the simple existence of electricity makes me punchy. Good thing I went to school for computer crap.

edit on 22-6-2011 by thisguyrighthere because: (no reason given)

You sound like me. Even though we're in a fairly desolate area, it's still in a "small" town. Every now and then I get to thinking, "is there a way I could get even more desolate?"

But, then there's the whole employment thing ....

When I moved to a small town in the mountains of N. Alabama a few years ago, I didn't plan on staying. I came home to help and after that I planned to get back to the city and the career I loved.

Suffice to say, a few years down the road--and wiser--I LOVE it here. I haven't been in a traffic jam, all my drives are scenic, and the folk here still have a sense of community. They're also more creative than I had ever imagined--from homemade Rube Goldberg like contraptions that get the job done to some o' the finest front-porch pickin' known to man.

And, might I add, country-girls are not only sweet & oh-so-lovely, but a lot of 'em can hold their own on a 4-wheeler too!

Like they say around here, "It's better to live in the country and visit the city than the other way around."

Originally posted by The GUT

When I moved to a small town in the mountains of N. Alabama a few years ago, I didn't plan on staying. I came home to help and after that I planned to get back to the city and the career I loved.

Suffice to say, a few years down the road--and wiser--I LOVE it here. I haven't been in a traffic jam, all my drives are scenic, and the folk here still have a sense of community.

Yep, a lot people from my neck of the woods are like that too. They move here and HATE it, at first. After a year, or two, they never want to leave.

The Big City is like a drug you have to get out of your system slowly over time. It's a toxin, that you think you need, but over time you can ween yourself off it and cleanse your system of it

Originally posted by The GUT
Like they say around here, "It's better to live in the country and visit the city than the other way around."

Couldn't agree more

Figured this out several years ago and one night escaped from the SF Bay Area to the Silver State - and never looked back.

In the urban areas:

* too many people
* too many of them are liberals/progressives
* too many of them are criminals
* too many of them are foreigners
* too many laws and regulations covering every facet of your life - the "nanny state"
* too many people competing dog-eat-dog for jobs, food, energy, housing, even for recreation. There are lines and you need reservations to visit restaurants, movies, and popular parks. In the country you compete against nature and your self - and the occasional other person you run across. And I was in a place recently that IMO rivals Yosemite in natural beauty - and only saw a few other people - like 5 or 10 - the whole time I was there.
* the very air you need to breathe is dirty

I could go on and on, but really I do NOT want all those people to figure out what I now know ...

I'm from a small town.
What, me worry?I'm pretty much ok with being myself,I've been at it for sometime.When people try to change others to be just like them,they must live in a city.The bigger the city the more social resistance is ostracized.
That is probably the number 1 cause of stress,which I don't have ,but I'm a carrier.
All seem to agree I'm weird.

Remember folks, the cities are predominantly LIBERAL.
'nuff said.

I can attest that my GAD (General Anxiety Disorder) started after being a city boy for the whole of my life.
And it's not only this. The noise (ok and a lot of heavy metal ) has damaged my ears to the point I can be deaf in the future.
I'm seriously thinking moving to a more rural area but at the same time I feel I'm gonna miss the city. I'm so accustomed to the noise that sometimes too much silence makes me anxious

Originally posted by Athens13
I can attest that my GAD (General Anxiety Disorder) started after being a city boy for the whole of my life.
And it's not only this. The noise (ok and a lot of heavy metal

) has damaged my ears to the point I can be deaf in the future.
I'm seriously thinking moving to a more rural area but at the same time I feel I'm gonna miss the city. I'm so accustomed to the noise that sometimes too much silence makes me anxious

Trust me, you'll get over your fear of the "silence" and it will become one of your favorite things. Plus, if you need noise, you can always turn on some electronic device - using headphones so you don't share your noise - for a fix.

I now ride my ATV up into the mountains looking forward to the time I can turn it off and experience nothing but the sound of the wind. So quiet, that sometimes I have to clear my throat to prove to myself I haven't gone deaf. How many urban denizens EVER experience that?

Oh, and do you have any idea how many stars there really are in the sky? Hint: far more than the 10 or 20 you can see now in the cities.

As for missing the city, simply reverse your life and visit cities like you used to visit the country ...

And now for the darker side of city life - if ever the SHTF, city dwellers will be the first to die en mass from starvation when no one comes to re-stock their grocery stores any more.

reply to post by EthanT


What a great thread, great replies, it's really got me thinking. We have one real motel in town, a Best Western two-story and looong. Looks pretty modern even if the siding is faux brick heheh.

But out front of this motel, right by the highway coming up the mountain (65 mph speed limit 4 lane yeah!--they think big when it comes to "Talledega" type thoughts 'round heres) is a couple of acres of corn growing. I'ma have to take a picture of that!

The other thing is, when an aunt passed away last year--coming up that same mountain--everyone pulled over all up that fairly steep grade from trucks and cars to police and a coca-cola truck to farm equipment. That may seem old fashioned or nuts to some...but I'm feeling it.

And as has been pointed out *cue up Bocephus* "Country folk can survive." TCB when TSHTF and ITEOTWAWKI.

I now live in a rural/country area in northern NSW in the land of Oz. Moved up here recently enough (six months ago), after spending two years in Sydney. My time there led to depression, angoriphoia, and one close brush with complete self-drestruction. Everything creative, intelligent, and hopeful in me was killed off as I lived within the city limits.

It can be said, with a degree of certainty, that I am not a city person. I do not doubt at all the findings of the afore mentioned study. There is something about a million human beings vying against each other to make a buck, and living so close and yet saying so little to one another, which destroys the better parts of some men/women. Seems unnatural, to me at least, to conglomerate a million balls of neurosis in worship of the mighty dollar and slot them together in a concrete jungle. Induces many cold shudders and repulsion.

I enjoy the sunlight now, and the night sky. Sweeping plains, clean air, nicer folk who ask how you're doing. A lack of full time employment is, in my mind, the smallest of prices to pay for these things.

Originally posted by EthanT

Meyer-Lindenberg’s findings, published June 23 in Nature, are a neurological investigation into the underpinnings of a disturbing social trend: As a rule, city life seems to generate mental illness.

As somebody who used to live in Los Angeles wasting precious time sitting in traffic jams, but moved to the middle of nowhere in the high desert, this article had special meaning to me.

I can tell you ... its true!

Even if you don't believe in psychic ability, you gotta admit you are surrounded by a large amount of negative vibes in the big city - stress, impatience, intolerance, etc - while living out the daily grind.

When I used to drive up to the desert leaving all that behind, I used to feel such a relief, like a weight coming off my shoulders.

Now, it turns out maybe there is some science to that

So, if you're stuck in the big city, go for a drive to the country once in a while, and enjoy the quiet and solitude ... it's good for the mind and body.



www.wired.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

edit on 22-6-2011 by EthanT because: (no reason given)

To be honest, I have the same problem with small towns. I was born and raised in the "country" and moved to the city when I was a teen. I feel more alive in the city, and even though I love the serene countryside, and I do visit often, I always felt trapped in a small town. The lack of work, lack of a social life, the lack of something productive to do... Sure, fishing, camping, and hunting are great, even just floating out on the lake, but the calm is just much for me most of the time. I've lived in small towns and country sides a decent amount of my life, and I always felt trapped, as though I could never leave them every time I went back there. It was so hard to get out. I hated how everyone knew everything that went on in your house, and even when they didnt, they would make things up about it. If you want to see a good example of segregation and discrimination... Move to a small town. The rich want to stay rich there and the poor get all the speeding tickets. Racism is big. Yet, at the same time, some of the people are just beautiful and caring in their ways, but far too few to compare against the buracrats that exist in every small town. Think about it.. If you were rich, wouldnt you want to have many poor underlings to do your bid? Thats the rich mentality in many of these southern small towns. Maybe it's just me and my perception, but I see it alot.


A cabin on a secluded lake would be nice... For camping. To live in one for all my life would make me feel utterly useless. Though, maybe that's the problem. Maybe we're all just working ourselves way too much and expecting... no... accepting that it is the norm. (shrugs)