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Monday, Sep. 13, 2021 | Follow @GlobeOpinion on Twitter
What the city can do for our mental health
By Ivy Scott
Bostonians, New Yorkers, San Franciscans, and anyone else who lived through the worst of the pandemic in a major city remembers the rhetoric well — a mass exodus to greener pastures for those who could afford it, and a stressful, claustrophobic existence for those who couldn’t. Anxiety and depression crept in as the four walls of people’s apartment slowly seemed to close in around them, every day more frightening — and later, more monotonous — than the last.
But a study released last month indicates that, though they may sometimes feel like a cage, big cities can also provide relief for residents through their geographic insistence on community, thus helping to curb depression, rather than intensify it.
The study is clear that the ability of urban areas to reduce symptoms of mental illness is highly dependent on race, education, and income. But for all city-dwellers, “it turns out that the casual social interactions that big cities force upon us — even the occasionally cold or callous ones — help buffer against mental health strain,” Bloomberg CityLab writes. The study’s lead author Andrew Stier pointed out that this information is more than just comforting news — it also suggests possible ways to further decrease depression rates in major cities.
It’s far too early to say how US residential trends will actually play out after the pandemic — whether the move away from cities is real, or a crisis-driven mirage. If cities do hold on to their residents during the recovery, it’ll be at least in part because while COVID may have exposed downsides to dense urban living, the pandemic also deepened our appreciation for some of its inherent strengths.
People sit in the outdoor dining section of Caffe Reggio in New York.
Already, many urbanites embraced the outdoors during the pandemic’s warmer days, seeking out green spaces and outdoor dining opportunities en masse. If cities can maximize the elements of urbanization that most reduce depression — increase foot traffic, integrate neighborhoods, boost mobility across different communities — urban centers may start to see an even bigger jump in mental health post-pandemic than they would have otherwise, an idea Stier says urban planners should incorporate more directly into their COVID-era designs.
Ivy Scott is a Globe Opinion contributor.Was this forwarded to you by a friend? Sign up for yourself here.
The new normal
Pandemic politics. By now, we’re all familiar with the fact that people on different sides of the political aisle often have wildly different opinions on where COVID originated, how it spreads, and what safety measures to take in response. What we likely think about less is how our political views might subconsciously (or overtly) be shaping our understanding of this and other public health crises, whether through the media we consume, the research we read, or the people we talk to. The New York Times reports that political views, particularly those of the rigidly partisan, are linked to “self-esteem about that identity” even more than values, and a desire to preserve that self-esteem — though not impossible to overcome — can warp who we choose to trust, and how willing we are to work together to find solutions to major problems.
Lightbulb moments. There are few people whose lives weren’t complicated by the pandemic, but several COVID-era solutions made certain aspects of life easier for many. In the disability community, closed captioning has been a game-changer for those with hearing challenges, while remote work saves the wheelchair-bound or sight-impaired an often lengthy commute to work. There’s no reason those adjustments shouldn’t stick around post-pandemic to help make daily life more accessible even in a non-emergency situation.
Memory lane. Someday, you’ll ramble to your grandchildren about the pandemic. But what exactly will you say? The highs and lows of the past 18 months have varied wildly according to geography, status, and personal experience — but according to Atlantic writer Melissa Fay Greene, the way we recall moments from the pandemic will also depend largely on the stories we absorb from those around us. Hero’s drama or unforgiving tragedy, the narrative arc formed by the memories of others is already shaping the tales we’ll pass down, for better and for worse.
Easing the burden
Depression was far from the only mental health challenge to worsen with the pandemic — cases of general anxiety, eating disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorder have also reportedly increased over the past 18 months. One study conducted by the Lancet reported that the number of people experiencing some form of “psychological distress” jumped by over 30 percent last year.
In many cases, acute symptoms to these types of mental health challenges can’t be alleviated by something as simple as a change in scenery — particularly during the pandemic, a walk with a friend can be more likely to exacerbate fear and anxiety than alleviate it. Fortunately, COVID limitations on in-person health care have made it easier to seek help for these problems via telemedicine, and a robust network of online support for mental health has emerged because of the pandemic, including easy low-cost access to therapy and counseling.
In an already stressful period, health care providers recommend taking baby steps to address mental health challenges, with the understanding that healing comes over a period of months, not days. Researchers from the Lancet study also underscored the need for regular mental health assessment by providers to foster a culture of wellness monitoring, instead of a system where patients only seek help in moments of crisis.
“Mental health issues may not be simply acute,” researchers wrote. “Health professionals should screen patients, especially those with prior mental health issues and life stressors, to identify those struggling with psychological distress to provide earlier clinical support.”
Reboot roundup
- As the back-to-school season enters full swing, questions about the Delta variant are still swirling. From the classroom to the office, one Atlantic writer takes a stab at outlining which areas of our lives ought to return to something resembling “normal” — and which of our pandemic precautions are in need of an upgrade.
- When it comes to dining, COVID has changed everything from the food we crave to what time we eat. This interactive map takes you along a timeline of some of the restaurant industry’s biggest transformations.
- While workplaces crack down on mask mandates, many school districts around the country are lagging behind, and sending parents into a panic about how to keep their young, unvaccinated children safe.
The last word: “This crisis has really made us stop and think about the way we can make a safe environment,” Tufts’ chief nursing officer Terry Hudson-Jinks told the Globe.
Ultimately, that should be the core of any crisis response, regardless of what mental health challenge people are facing, or even which tools are available: marshalling the resources people and institutions do have to mitigate symptoms and help community members get better.
That responsibility is shared among health care providers, urban planners, school district superintendents, and a slew of other decision-makers, and the numbers show that it’s an obligation that is far too often overlooked. However, among the pandemic’s few silver linings is the forced reckoning that many have made with their psychological health, and the two-fold results of improved clinical treatment and an increased desire to design a world with our mental well-being in mind.
