Over
the past 50 or 60 years, urbanization has brought significant changes to our
lives. Yet there remains some disagreement as to whether the effects of urban
living on the mind are favorable or unfavorable. It is an undeniable fact that
urban living has disastrous effects on people’s mind and it affects people adversely in the four
corners of the world.
In the
first place, one point which is believed to be absolutely pivotal is the fact
that urban living affects people’s mental health adversely. It is clear that
the risk of developing anxiety and mood disorders are important points in this
issue. Anxiety disorders pose a higher
risk with 21 percent and mood disorders pose the highest risk with 39 percent. It is
important to emphasize that living in a city roughly doubles the risk of
schizophrenia. It can be said that there are a lot of reasons concerning the
risks, one of the most important reasons is stressful life events: divorce,
bereavement or a serious illness, besides, income, employment, and education
affect mental health. According to research carried out by Dr. Andres
Meyer-Lindenberg of the central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim in
Germany, the city dwellers’ brains, don’t seem to handle
stress so well, compared with people who live in the countryside.
Similarly,
when it comes to the second point, at the heart of the matter lies another contributing
factor: urban living has disastrous effects on people’s brain health,
especially the amygdala and the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC).
The amgydala is responsible for assessing threats and generating fear, on the
other hand, the pACC is responsible for regulating the amygdala. According to
research, in the city dwellers, the amygdalas appear more active and not to be
the same smooth connection between the behavior of the two brain regions. In
addition, there is a different point: Dopamine levels. Dopamine is a
neurotransmitter with many functions, one of which is to infuse the brain,
besides, dopamine levels are very high in parts of schizophrenic people’s
brain.
All
that has been said raises the issue of whether the effects of urban living on
the mind are favorable or unfavorable. It is obvious that there are lots of
harmful effects on people’s brain. The risk of anxiety and mood disorders,
stress, the failure of the amygdala, pACC and dopamine levels can be listed as
the detrimental effects on the minds of urban dwellers.
KUBİLAY
ESER
