Unhappy Communities Make Depressed Individuals And Lower Productivity

Depression not only hurts the affected individuals, but it can also hurt those around as well. That might explain why unhappy environments are more likely to have a bunch of unhappy or depressed people.

"This is a real concern not just in the United States, but across the world," lead researcher Stephan Goetz, professor of agricultural economics and regional economics, Penn State, and director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, said in a news release. "Poor mental health can result in considerable economic costs, including losses of billions of dollars to lower productivity and this doesn't even include the staggering personal costs of negative mental health and depression."

For the study, researchers discovered that people living in communities with the poorest mental health on average reported spending 8.3 days a month in a bad mood. On the other hand, those with good mental health typically spent a lot less time feeling depressed.

Overall, people living in suburban areas seemed to be less depressed and much happier than those in rural or urban areas.

Researchers said they believe that those who live in these areas have many of the amenities that a big city has to offer but are also far enough away from the inner city that they're not stressed out.

"It may be that you don't want to be too close to people, but you don't want to be too far away either," concluded Goetz. "The more supported you are by the community, the happier you are, and the better you are able to cope with troubles."

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the journal Social Indicators Research. 

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