It Turns Out Big City Life Isn’t Making You Depressed
A new study suggests that towns and suburbs could learn from bigger cities about how to increase social interaction.
A pedestrian walks past a Macy's store on 34th Street in New York on April 7, 2021. A new study finds casual social interactions in big cities can help fight depression.
Photographer: Amir Hamja/BloombergCities have long battled a poor reputation as cauldrons of stress, fostering high rates of depression and other mental illnesses. But new research suggests that big cities actually have some mental health benefits over their smaller counterparts.
The study, to be published Aug. 3 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, draws on mathematical models and multiple datasets to try to gauge how city size and the “built environment,’’ like structures and roads, influence depression.