You might think that living in a city would teach you how to cope with stress. After all, city folk are known to be tough, street smart and nobody’s fools. The surprise? That assumption may not reflect urban reality accurately at all. A recent German study tells us that city dwellers may not be nearly as impervious to stress and strain as it sometimes seems. In fact, the findings show that people who grow up in urban environments are typically less able to deal with stress than those who are raised in the country… and that there’s a link between urban stress and mental illness!

I had to stop and think about this for a minute. I myself have lived in big cities. Stressful at times? Well, of course. But… mental illness? I decided to call the lead researcher, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, MD, PhD, of the Central Institute of Mental Health at the University of Heidelberg. He told me that the city stress factor is very real and that if there’s good news, it’s that the study will show the way to help urban residents cope with it better and ultimately to help urban planners design cities in ways that reduce some of the most stressful characteristics.

“More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities, making the creation of a healthy urban environment a major policy priority,” researchers said in the study, which was published in the June 23, 2011 issue of Nature.

It’s been known for several decades, Dr. Meyer-Lindenberg said, that city dwellers are at greater risk for psychiatric disorders, including mood disorders and depression, than are people who live in the country. The Heidelberg study now reveals how city living and upbringing affects certain parts of the brain when a person undergoes stress. To do the study, researchers induced social stress on two groups of volunteers, some of whom lived in cities for varying lengths of time (for the purposes of the study, we’re talking about cities with populations above 100,000) and others who lived in the country. Each of these 79 participants was put into an fMRI scanner that monitors brain activity and was given a math test to take while being scanned. As the subjects took the test, researchers induced stress by criticizing them for not doing better.

During these tests, researchers looked at the subjects’ stress hormone levels, blood pressure and heart rates — all indicators of stress. At the same time, fMRI scans showed that when urban-dwelling test subjects were criticized, they had greater activity in the amygdala, a part of the brain associated with stress, depression and anxiety disorders.

Dr. Meyer-Lindenberg said these results provided the first glimpse of the brain mechanism causing higher levels of mental illness among city dwellers.

FOR CITY DWELLERS — A WALK IN THE PARK?

Rather than get further stressed, what should city dwellers do? Dr. Meyer-Lindenberg suggested that reducing their stress should be a big priority, and that one of the most powerful ways to do this is to build and maintain a network of supportive friends and acquaintances. (And it’s true — living in the human crush of a city can be, ironically, very isolating!) In fact, research shows that the size of one’s social support network helps make the amygdala and prefrontal cortex network (essential in processing emotions and avoiding stress) work better. Other measures might include the usual options of regular exercise…yoga or meditation… massage… exploring one’s spirituality — or simply making a point of laughing more often.

An upcoming study at the University of Heidelberg is expected to give those who live in the city more specific information, Dr. Meyer-Lindenberg said. It will use electronic devices to track participants as they move through the city and the countryside. Their brains will then be tested to see which experiences in which environments are the most stressful. In the meantime, if you’re a person who calls the city home, be sure to make a habit of spending a quiet hour or so at the library, taking a walk in a park or having dinner in a small, favorite restaurant with friends. Insist on a measure of serenity in your life!

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