Leaving a small town to become a big deal in the city has long been a baptism of fire for American yuppies drawn to urban life for employment opportunities and a fast-paced metropolitan lifestyle. According to a recent New York Times report, young people with college degrees leave struggling American regions for cities in southern and coastal states for economic reasons.
As per The Daily Yonder, a rural college graduate earns 23% less than a college graduate living in the city. While wages and salaries are higher in urban areas, this comes at a significant price. According to the Center for Urban Design and Mental Health, living in the city is linked with an almost 40% higher risk of depression, more than 20% higher risk of anxiety, and double the risk of schizophrenia compared to living in rural areas.
Some burdens on city dwellers’ mental health are connected to social issues such as loneliness and the stress of living shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands or millions of other individuals. However, there is something about cities’ corporeality that also strains their citizens’ emotional well-being. In this article, we’ll examine several aspects of a city environment that affect one’s mental health and ways to maintain mental well-being while living in urban areas.
Built environment
Several factors contribute to poor mental health. Lifestyle, diet, personal history, and genetics all play a role. However, it is common for individuals to fail to consider the environment they live in when analyzing the causes of their mental health struggles. What makes matters worse is that these environmental factors affecting their mental health can bind up with others.
For example, substance abuse or depression can result in unemployment, leading to poor nutrition, poverty, and other associated issues. Unlike rural areas, cities have built environments that can influence an individual’s mental health. The continuous stimulation of these built environments can propel the body into a stressful state known as the fight-or-flight response, which makes individuals more vulnerable to mental health issues such as substance abuse, anxiety, and depression.
Moreover, urban environments depend on motor vehicles, creating high traffic noise levels. Such noisy environments can reduce social cohesion and the therapeutic quality of neighborhoods, which adversely impact people’s mental health and are linked to symptoms such as impaired cognitive function, anxiety, and depression. Although the issue of identifying how the built environment impacts mental health is not more pronounced, paying more attention to the health implications of various environmental risk exposures is essential to improving mental health.
For example, city dwellers may have reduced access to nature, fewer opportunities to integrate exercise into their routine, and less leisure time. A case in point is New York City, where only 42% meet the national guidelines for physical activity. Although reasons differ from one individual to another, most New Yorkers avoid physical activity because their free time is spent commuting around the city and at work. It often increases the body’s baseline levels of stress and arousal, which, over time, evolve into social isolation, which is linked with depression and anxiety and forms the basis of the ecological hypothesis of schizophrenia.
Besides the workaholic-built environment a city projects, living in an urban setting can also increase stimuli and strip people of protective factors. For instance, individuals living in the city experience increased crowding and noise. These factors can trigger action and thought at a latent level of awareness and evolve as an inability to cope develops. While an individual’s adaptability impacts how they adjust to a built-city environment, it is not safe to assume that any environment is optimal for everybody.
Socioeconomic factors
As mentioned above, many people move to the city for better economic and social opportunities. While this is not necessarily bad, most of the reasons individuals have can be risk factors for mental health. For example, people with preexisting mental and physical health issues can be physically and psychologically segregated into neighborhoods characterized by social and economic challenges. It ultimately engenders feelings of hopelessness and prejudice, which, in turn, can impact mental health.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, more than half of people with mental health issues do not receive help for their disorders. The same report adds that individuals avoid or delay seeking treatment because of treatment-related concerns and fears of losing their jobs and livelihoods. Unlike in rural areas, living in the city is ripe with socioeconomic challenges and inequalities related to housing provision, access to open land, traffic gridlock, and high crime rates.
Contrary to popular belief, mental health and well-being determinants are significantly more about the socioeconomic status of the society individuals live in than medical factors. What makes this worse is that the disadvantage often starts before birth and accumulates through life, leaving young city dwellers in a losing battle. Other than that, city dwellers also come into constant contact with strangers, leading to feelings of social isolation and loneliness.
Although this may seem paradoxical, considering that cities are full of people, living anonymously alongside millions of others can leave humans isolated. According to recent data, New York, one of the world’s largest cities, is also among the loneliest places on the planet, with more than half of its residents feeling lonely. What’s more depressing is that only 10% of New Yorkers find it easy to make friends, while 4% find it easy to look for love.
It is common for individuals to move into the city to start a new life and achieve a specific dose of anonymity. After all, it is much easier to go unnoticed in a big city like New York than in a place like Topeka. But this anonymity is the crux of the issue since big cities have more humans gathered in one place, resulting in fewer systems that regulate the place. Moreover, cultivating meaningful and organic connections is also challenging, considering most people spend their time consciously because of the endless opportunities.
Dissimilar to rural living, everyone in the city has as many dreams and aspirations as the next person. When everyone in the city is working tirelessly towards their goals, there is a good chance that community participation will decline, damaging the little social networks individuals rely on. Furthermore, this can lead to increased stress, which can cause psychological and emotional distress and alter the nervous system’s overall functioning.
Increased risk of serious chronic illnesses
City dwellers are vulnerable to many physical health effects that those in the suburbs or country are not exposed to. According to a study, living in the city has been found to increase the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases because of higher rates of air pollution and terrible air quality. The same study also suggests that air pollution harms an individual’s weight and can contribute to obesity.
On the surface, this does not directly impact an individual’s mental health. However, when you dig deeper, this increased risk can engender feelings of concern and worry. When these feelings become overwhelming and prolonged, the risk of mental health issues arises. While stress is a normal human reaction and can keep you alert to danger and adaptable to new situations, it becomes an issue when you experience it frequently.
Depending on their circumstances, one can experience stress when there is pressure or a threat to their well-being with little or no resources to counter the issue. When you are constantly worried about the increased risk for serious chronic diseases, it can trigger anxiety, including the physical effects of worrying on the body, such as stomachaches, headaches, a racing heartbeat, and feelings of dread. It ultimately impacts your mental well-being, outlook, and how you deal with the intricacies of living and working in the city.
When your mental well-being is compromised, it can become more challenging to understand, manage, and accept feelings effectively during times of change or challenge. Moreover, painful and uncomfortable thoughts can impact how well individuals function and may make them feel like they are losing control of their lives. What makes this worse is that constantly worrying about these risks can impact physical health and lead to actually suffering the illness due to a weakened immune system. According to PubMed Central, mental well-being issues can result in increased illness and higher blood pressure.
Effective ways to maintain mental well-being while living in the city
Urban design can adversely impact the well-being of city dwellers. However, not everyone has the resources to move out of the city. So, city dwellers must find effective ways and recreational opportunities to maintain well-being and improve their mental health.
Create a work-life balance
If you live in the city, there is a good chance you are struggling with creating a work-life balance and are not alone. Recent data shows 48% of Americans consider themselves workaholics, while another 22% do not have a work-life balance. Living and working in a city like New York presents unique challenges, such as competing with other well-qualified candidates for promotions, achieving enough income to accommodate the high cost of living, and the stressful commute to work.
Although achieving work-life balance in the city is more challenging than in rural areas, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. One way to create a work-life balance is to establish clear boundaries between work and personal life by defining specific working hours and separating work-related tasks from personal activities. Most Americans fail to do this, with over half of employees not using their statutory paid leaves and public holidays to pursue personal goals.
It is common for American workers to believe there is no good time to be away from the office or to be concerned about missing opportunities while they are gone. However, not taking a break can result in you experiencing burnout, which, in turn, makes you a liability to an employer. By creating a work-life balance, you can stay healthy and energized for the long haul while cultivating personal relationships and increasing overall productivity.
Exercise regularly
Regular exercise is another way for city dwellers to remain mentally strong amidst the city’s hustle and bustle. Have you ever noticed how your mind and body feel when stressed at work? Your muscles might be tense; you may feel tightness in your chest; you may also experience problems such as frequent urination, diarrhea, and insomnia.
The worry and discomfort of all these physical systems can result in even more stress, creating a vicious cycle between your mind and body. You can break this cycle through regular exercise, as physical activity can relax the muscles and relieve body tension. Since the mind and body are closely connected, when your body feels better, so will your mind.
However, you must be strategic when exercising to incorporate it into your routine. It means building an exercise plan based on the foundational blocks of fitness, including balance, cardio, power and strength training, and flexibility. Doing so allows you to target all the muscles and gives the joints enough movement to stay limber and improve endurance.
Eat healthy
When you are living in the city, it can be easy to order takeout since, most of the time, you are too busy to prepare and cook meals. However, this can do more harm than good, as an inadequate diet can result in fatigue, impaired decision-making, and slower reaction times. Eating a healthy and well-balanced diet allows you to think more clearly and feel more alert to conquer the challenges ahead.
Recent studies revealed that client diets consisting of mainly whole and unprocessed foods can help with symptoms of anxiety and depression. However, like any substantial and positive change in life, the early stages of healthy eating can sometimes feel like a challenge, especially if you do not have established guidelines. Planning your meals lets you see how much you are eating and eliminates the need to eat whatever you get the fastest when you are hungry or your blood sugar drops.
Eating clean and healthy foods is the key to a healthy diet because they contain the nutrients your body needs to work correctly. When the food you eat supports how your body functions, you’ll have more energy to manage the stress of living in the city. Either way, planning your meals makes eating healthy more convenient. It, in turn, makes it easier to incorporate a balanced diet into your busy lifestyle.
Consult a licensed mental health counselor
Practicing good habits can only take you so far, especially when dealing with preexisting stress, depression, or mental health issues. Seeing a counselor allows you to learn about yourself and gain a complete understanding of your personality, beliefs, and values. Depending on your issues, mental health counselors will offer you a structured approach to dealing with troubling symptoms, loss, or trauma.
Understanding your feelings and emotions allows you to identify unhealthy patterns and behaviors that contribute to your mental health issues. This way, you can make proactive and positive changes to improve your well-being. Alternatively, mental health counselors can stop you from being so hard on yourself if you had a part in a situation that ended badly.
Humans often do not have someone to share their thoughts and emotions with. While talking to friends and family can help, most do not speak frankly or honestly about their deepest feelings with those closest to them for fear of being judged. A mental health counselor will provide you with a safe space to discuss complex topics without being judged. When speaking frankly, you can better address these issues and learn new skills to deal with emerging problems.
How to become a mental health counselor?
Mental health is a pressing issue in the United States. So, it is no surprise that more students are aspiring to become counselors and researching how to become a licensed mental health counselor in NY. If you have an undergraduate degree in relevant discipline, the next step is to earn a masters such as the online Master of Science in Education in Mental Health Counseling from St. Bonaventure University, which is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). While working towards your degree, you will receive rigorous and comprehensive training in mental health assessment, counseling theory, diagnosis, and application.
After earning your counseling degree, you must pass one or more National Board for Certified Counselor examinations, such as the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examinations and the National Counselor Examination. You are also required to gain hands-on experience under the supervision of licensed counselors before you earn your counseling license. Once you’ve completed everything, you can seek additional mental health counseling certifications to improve your credibility and professional reputation.
Overcoming stress in the city with proper mental care
Everyone experiences stress to some degree. However, how humans respond to stress makes a significant difference in their overall well-being. Responding with proper mental care empowers city dwellers to overcome stress and manage the comings and goings of living in the metro.
