Essay on Psychology and the Media

Essay on Psychology and the Media

Stress in the City: Brain Activity and Biology behind Mood Disorders of Urbanites relates to The Sensation and Perception section in chapter four of our text book. Sensation and Perception play two complimentary, but different roles in how we interpret the world. Sensation refers to the process of sensing our environment through touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell. This information is sent to our brains in raw form where perception comes into play. Perception is the way we interpret these sensations and therefore make sense of everything around us. The environment in which we are in can have a large effect on our daily lives. Our environment can even effect how our brain responds to different stimuli.

Being born and raised in a major urban area is associated with greater lifetime risk for anxiety and mood disorders. Until now, the biology for these associations had not been described. A new international study, which involved Douglas Mental Health University Institute researcher Jens Pruessner, is the first to show that two distinct brain regions that regulate emotion and stress are affected by city living. The study is published in the journal Nature. It may help explain why mood disorders like depression and mental illnesses like schizophrenia are more common in city dwellers than in those living in less densely populated areas.

Cities and metropolitan areas have traffic problems that differ from those in small towns and rural areas. Higher populations of residents, commuters and travelers can lead to common city traffic problems. While these common problems are not unique to larger areas, population density does tend to increase them and make them occur more often. Let's take Atlanta for example. With the population growing at an alarming rate, we have simply out grown our infrastructure. As city populations increase, the development of new roads and the widening and expanding of existing roads and freeways does not always keep pace. As a result, congestion and traffic jams are a common problem with city traffic. Idling cars in traffic jams also contribute to air pollution levels in major cities. Pollution due to automobile emissions is an ever-growing problem in major cities. Smog tests and emissions standards, as well as increased environmental awareness, have helped to reduce this problem, but it still is more of a concern in congested and crowded city environments than in rural settings. Crowded roads and slow commute times can lead to road rage, which in turn can lead to vehicle-related violent acts and accidents. Road rage is usually the result of frustration due to the actions of other drivers, road conditions and traffic delays.

I feel living and working in the city can be