More and more people choose to live in cities. Yet, despite the convenience of living in cities, it also comes with its own horrors such as pollution, standstill traffic, overcrowding, endless grey pavements – just to name a few.
Studies have shown that the risk for serious mental illness is generally higher in cities compared to rural areas.
As reported on CNN, ZipJet, an international technology company revealed the world’s most and least stressful cities.
To come up with this ranking, the firm considered 17 factors that contribute to stress across 500 cities in the world. These factors include unemployment, per capita debt, safety, and levels of physical and mental health.
These are the cities where you should move for less stress
- Stuttgart (Germany)
- Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
- Hanover (Germany)
- Bern (Switzerland)
- Munich (Germany)
- Bordeaux (France)
- Edinburgh (United Kingdom)
- Sydney (Australia)
- Hamburg (Germany)
- Graz (Austria)
Mos stressful cities to live
Manila in the Philippines is one of the world’s most stressful cities to live.
- Baghdad (Iraq)
- Kabul (Afghanistan)
- Lagos (Nigeria)
- Dakar (Senegal)
- Cairo (Egypt)
- Tehran (Iran)
- Dhaka (Bangladesh)
- Karachi (Pakistan)
- New Delhi (India)
- Manila (Philippines)
Individuals feel stressed for different reasons, requiring the study to look at data from a macro level to determine the comprehensive well-being of a city’s population. Apart, from the factors already mentioned, the researchers also considered elements such as lack of sunshine hours, which has been linked to poor mental health.
‘Mental health problems are on the rise worldwide, with stress being a trigger and contributing factor towards this increase. We hope that by pinpointing how the least stressful cities are managing this issue, those cities struggling with a stressed out population can overcome it.’ explained Managing Director of Zipjet, Florian Färber.
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the founder of Psychreg. He interviews people within psychology, mental health, and well-being on his YouTube channel, The DRH Show.
