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Does the City Drive Us Mad?

Explore the correlation between high-density urban living and mental illness, focusing on schizophrenia and related factors such as social stress, pollution, and social inequality. Understand the mechanisms and implications for public health.

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Does the City Drive Us Mad?

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  1. Does the City Drive Us Mad? The Effect of High Density Living www.psychlotron.org.uk

  2. Edexcel Specification • Candidates should be able to…describe and assess the effects of high density living on humans • Data interpretation • Drawing conclusions • Exam technique

  3. Urban Living and Mental Illness • What is the nature of the relationship? • Cause or effect? • What is the mechanism?

  4. Urbanicity and Schizophrenia • Pedersen & Mortensen (2001) • As population density rises, so does prevalence of schizophrenia • Risk in inner city more than twice that in rural area

  5. Urbanicity and Schizophrenia • Higher density living is associated with increased risk of mental illness • Primarily schizophrenia, but also depression and anxiety • These data are correlational

  6. Causation Hypothesis Something to do with the urban environment causes or triggers schizophrenia Migration Hypothesis People with schizophrenia move towards urban areas Access to services, cheaper housing etc. Cause or Effect?

  7. Cause or Effect? • Pedersen & Mortensen (2001) • Moving into or out of a city affects a person’s risk of schizophrenia

  8. Cause or Effect? • Pedersen & Mortensen (2001) • Dose-response relationship between urban living and schizophrenia • More exposure in childhood leads to greater risk

  9. Cause or Effect? • Relationship between urbanicity and schizophrenia cannot be explained solely by migration • Urban living plays a causal role in onset of schizophrenia • So what is the mechanism?

  10. Physical Stress e.g. noise, pollution Social Stress e.g. lack of support Biological risk factor e.g. viral infection What is the Mechanism? Urban Living Schizophrenia

  11. Crowding Viral infection Daily life stress Social isolation & fragmentation Pollution Social inequality What is the Mechanism? Less evidence More evidence Based on Freeman (1994); Pedersen & Mortensen (2001); van Os (2004)

  12. Conclusions • People living in urban environments run a greater risk of developing schizophrenia • This is not due to migration of schizophrenics to inner cities • This may be due to infection or environmental stress (noise, pollution) • More likely due to the social conditions that accompany high density living

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