Posted on 09/06/2010 3:43:29 PM PDT by decimon
The association between psychotic disorders and living in urban areas appears to be a reflection of increased social fragmentation present within cities, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
"There is a substantial worldwide variation in incidence rates of schizophrenia," the authors write as background in the article. "The clearest geographic pattern within this distribution of rates is that urban areas have a higher incidence of schizophrenia than rural areas." Characteristics of neighborhoods that have been associated with an increased risk of developing psychosis include population and ethnic density, deprivation and social fragmentation or reduced social capital and cohesion.
To examine whether individual, school or area characteristics are associated with psychosis and can explain the association with urbanicity (the quality of being urban), Stanley Zammit, Ph.D., of Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, and colleagues studied a total of 203,829 individuals living in Sweden, with data at the individual, school, municipality and county levels.
According to the findings, "the risk of nonaffective psychosis was higher in cities and towns than in rural areas." Of the 203,829 people in the study, 328 (0.16 percent) were ever admitted with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, 741 (0.36 percent) with other nonaffective psychoses, 355 (0.17 percent) with affective psychoses and 953 (0.47 percent) with other psychoses. Additionally, the authors found that almost all variance in the risk of nonaffective psychosis was explained at the individual-level rather than at a higher-level variation. "An association between urbanicity and nonaffective psychosis was explained by higher-level characteristics, primarily school-level social fragmentation." The authors "observed cross-level markers of ethnicity, social fragmentation and deprivation on risk of developing any psychotic disorder, all with qualitative patterns of interaction."
The authors comment that, "being raised in more urbanized areas was associated with an increased risk of developing any nonaffective psychotic disorder." Additionally, "this association was explained primarily by area characteristics rather than by characteristics of the individuals themselves. Social fragmentation was the most important area characteristic that explained the increased risk of psychosis in individuals brought up in cities." The authors also note that, "our findings highlight the concern that physical integration alone is not sufficient but that some of the positive characteristics traditionally conferred by segregation, such as a localized sense of safety, cohesion and community spirit, must also be maintained to enhance the mental health of individuals within the population."
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(Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010;67[9]:914-922. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org.)
Editor's Note: This study was supported by the National Assembly for Wales and Swedish Research Council for Working Life and Social Research. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
How much wood could a wood...
Yep. I’m about as dangerous as a butterfly out here in the country but if you force me to live in the city I’ll be a killin spree waiting to happen.
I've often wondered about those farm accidents that conveniently dispose of Farmer or Mrs. Farmer Jones.
I lived in the city for 42 years, and moved to the country 9 years ago. Country living is far superior.
I needed that laugh.
It’s so much easier to dispose of bodies out here in the boonies.
I’ve often wondered about those farm accidents that conveniently dispose of Farmer or Mrs. Farmer Jones.
Hogs will eat anything. Especially if you don’t feed them
for a couple of days.
I lived in the city for 42 years, and moved to the country 9 years ago. Country living is far superior.
Did you ever notice that city people will have a place in
the country to get away to, but country people never have a
place in the city to get away to?
I’ve been in Pontiac MI, for the past two almost three years and being forced to live here has been driving me crazy. I had depression, parents got hysterical, and now my Dad has a death grip on my funds and wonders why I’m not being more ‘social.’
We make great friends out here in the country.
A good friend will help you move. A great friend will help you move a body.
Ah, the Butterfly Effect!
:^)
Sounds like you need to get out of town more often. Fortunately that’s fairly easy to do in Michigan.
Look at the 2008 presidential electoral map, all the major cities and megalopolises went for the most liberal candidates. There is a reason. The majority of the people who live there have lost touch with the earth that sustains them. How many have seen a hog butchered or calf born or a hawk catch a squirrel? How many drink milk and never give a thought on how that gallon of milk got to their local store. We are butting heads against a large group of people who has lost touch with God the Creator, with the soil that feeds us and with fellow humans, all the time thinking that it will be humans (man/government) who can fix all the problems of our society. Just one man can, Jesus Christ.
Believe (Romans 10:9,10) then see.
My wife occasionally drives down to Los Angeles to visit her family. I used to allow her to drag me along, but I rarely will submit these days. It's just not worth the aggravation.
Moving here was a quaint culture shock. Visiting Los Angeles is a disgusting and ugly culture shock, but you just don't realize it when you live there. Once you escape, your entire frame of reference shifts to normal.
I plan on crucifying my Dad in court. I would be leaving town if not for dolt Dad. I would be living in Waterford and living quietly and safely. He thinks I’m having a ‘hip’ urban experience. He’s enthusiastic for me to try public transportation.
"The DSM V says I'm a prodigy. By the way, you got a purty mouth..."
Seems like Sweden conducted a study to better understand their ethnic minorities, possible ‘Asian yutes’. Physical integration or assimilation isn’t enough? That does’nt sound like they are looking at ethnic Swedes but at, perhaps, Muslims or other minorities. Minorities in any culture tend to form conclaves where they can share their culture (I think of China Town in San Francisco) but here the Swedes are saying it ‘wasn’t enough’. They do mention social fragmentation - that sounds more like our fatherless urban minorities but I don’t know what is going on in Sweden. But I wonder. And apparently so do the Swedes.
There ya go. Now I feel so normal.
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