The growing frequency of psychiatric diseases now becomes a worldwide global concern influencing millions of individuals annually.
Along with this, psychological research has developed and numerous contributing biological elements of certain mental diseases have been found. Nonetheless, others contend that the frequency of diseases is related to neurochemical, genetic, and environmental elements including pollution as genetic studies have not fully accounted for phenotypic variance.
Describes mental health.
Defined by the World Health Organization as “a state of well-being in which the individuals realize his or her abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can make contributions to his or her community,” mental health
The World Health Organization also emphasizes especially the point of view that mental health should not be seen just as a person free from psychiatric diseases.
Environmental Pollution and Mental Health
The possible connection between environmental contamination and a higher risk of psychological problems has been covered in an increasing amount of studies.
Researchers from Denmark and the United States looked at the frequency of mental diseases and environmental exposure. Observational studies including the examination of environmental elements like air pollution and the treatment of psychiatric diseases were conducted in both the US and Denmark.
To estimate the number of persons in each region who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar, personality disorder, Parkinson’s disease, major depression, and epilepsy, they specifically compiled insurance data from 2003 to 2013 for 151 million people in the US and 1.4 million in Denmark.
Analyzed were data on the temperature, average income, ethnic background of people, population density, and other socioeconomic elements to see whether any of them connected to a higher or lower frequency of each mental illness.
Those in Denmark who lived in extremely polluted areas during the first 10 years of life were more likely to develop schizophrenia, depression, bipolar, and personality disorders, they discovered. Highly polluted areas of the US were linked to more depression and bipolar than less polluted ones.
It is noteworthy that direct causality is not yet shown even if there is an evident correlation between mental health problems and air pollution. Given the nature of the research, there might be a range of additional significant contributing elements neglected.
Studies conducted under the same department found a possible correlation between anxiety and pollution. More specifically, the researchers discovered that generalized anxiety was linked to recent exposure to traffic-related air population (TRAP).
The study examined MRI images of children especially focusing at their predominance of a metabolite present in glial cells: Myo-inositol. The researchers observed a substantial rise in Myo-inositol after high doses of TRAP. Furthermore connected to elevations in generalised anxiety symptoms were high levels of the metabolite.
