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Mental health
Mental health & city living
Why?
Vulnerable individuals
The city itself
Further questions
Mental Health
Functioning
Behaviour
Emotion Mental illness or
mental health problems
Adjustment
Psychological well-being
No health without mental health
Disorder Urban areas (%)
Rural area (%)
Depression
17.1 6.1
Alcohol dependence
5.5 3.5
Substance dependence
2.6 0.9
Prevalence of mental illnesses in the UK
Two-fold increase in incidence of schizophrenia in urban compared to rural areas.
Pattern not observed for all mental illnesses
London Mood Project
City & Mental Health
Characteristics of urban
environments
Individual factors
https://sites.google.com/site/londonmoodapp/home
City
Physical Social
Cities’ physical features & mental illness
The city as a social environment & mental health
Social support
Social isolation
Social capital (mutual trust, bonding & safety in neighbourhoods)
= Stressor?
Spaces to facilitate
Community events
Social interaction/inclusion
The city: physical & social place
Individuals characteristics
Ethnicity
Drug use
Immigration status
Interpretational style
Gender
Socio-economic status
Employment
Genetic vulnerability
London Mood Project
https://sites.google.com/site/londonmoodapp/home
Summary
Higher rates of mental illnesses in urban rather than rural areas (but not for all disorders).
Both physical and social features of the environment are linked to mental health.
Particular individuals could be vulnerable to the detrimental effects of the city.
Remaining questions are concerned with
Mechanisms
Action
Prosocial Place team
Neda Nobari-Nazari
Jamal Wallace
Megan Harrington
Amandeep Virk
Linda Walker
Tanya Frankel
Acknowledgements
RICHARD BENJAMIN TRUST Supporting Innovative Research
https://sites.google.com/site/londonmoodapp/home
References Guite, HF, Clark, C & Ackrill, G (2006). The impact of the physical
and urban environment on mental well-being. Public Health, 120, 1117-1126.
Heinz, A, Deserno, L, & Reininghaus, U. (2013). Urbanicity, social adversity and psychosis. World Psychiatry, 12(3) 187-197
