Risk of developing psychiatric conditions could be shaped by environment

A new University of Georgia research study links a lack of resources in a given area to a higher risk of certain psychiatric conditions for its residents.

Living in low-income, high crime areas correlates with a 79% higher rate of psychotic disorders.

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia can be debilitating, interfering with a person’s mental, physical and social health. The new study suggests a person’s risk for developing these conditions could be shaped by their environment.

The researchers found that, in areas with lower incomes, poor quality housing and high crime, rates of psychotic disorders were 79% higher than in wealthier areas.

“Black Americans are about 2.4 times more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia in the United States, and recent research has been pointing to structural causes,” said Sydney James, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. “Marginalized communities are more likely to live in deprived areas, so I wanted to see if that explained the higher rates of psychosis.”

The meta-analysis included multiple countries, examining the environments people lived in and the rates of psychotic disorders in those areas.

“The studies used a range of methods, but the results were very consistent: More inequality can give rise to a higher incidence rate of psychosis,” said James.

Continue reading...

Image: (Illustration by Andrea Piazza)