Figure 3 - uploaded by Peter Sterling
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Greening vacant lots in depressed neighborhoods causes improvements to individual mental health. Conversely, a depressing environment causes depressed people. Reprinted from ref 24.
Source publication
Neuroscientists widely hypothesize that "depression" arises from a brain disorder caused by some defect in a specific neural pathway. If so, we might identify and localize the defect, and then develop a rational therapy. However, recent evidence from multiple sources fails to support this hypothesis: (1) Neuroimaging does not identify brain abnorma...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... improvements to community life have large impacts on mental health. For example, converting vacant lots in poor neighborhoods to green spaces reduced depression by 42% and feelings of worthlessness by 51% (Figure 3) . Also, repairing the visible facades of homes in poor neighborhoods caused total crime to fall by 22% . ...
Citations
... These major disturbances, despite persistent claims, have not been localized to any brain region or neural circuit (Sterling 2022). Nor have they been associated with any disordered molecule or neurochemical imbalance (Ang, Horowitz, and Moncrieff 2022). ...
... But the drugs fail in the broad sense. First, as for hypertension, obesity, and addiction, there is no scientific rationale for tweaking neural circuits that are not broken (Sterling 2022). Boosting serotonin for someone suffering from depression is nothing more than a wild guess; indeed, for most people, psychopharmacology is roughly as effective as placebo (Khan et al. 2012;Stone et al. 2022). ...
Deaths of Despair (DoD), or mortality resulting from suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol related liver disease, have been rising steadily in the United States over the last several decades. In 2020, a record 186,763 annual despair-related deaths were documented, contributing to the longest sustained decline in US life expectancy since 1915-1918. This forum feature considers how health humanities disciplines might fruitfully engage with this era-defining public health catastrophe and help society better understand and respond to the crisis.
... These major disturbances, despite persistent claims, have not been localized to any brain region or neural circuit (Sterling, 2022). Nor have they been associated with any disordered molecule or neurochemical "imbalance" (Anga et al 2022). ...
... But the drugs fail in the broad sense. First (as for hypertension, obesity, and addiction), there is no scientific rationale for tweaking neural circuits that aren't broken (Sterling, 2022). Boosting serotonin for someone suffering depression is nothing more than a wild guess; indeed, for most people psychopharmacology is roughly as effective as placebo (Khan et al, 2012;Stone et al, 2022). ...
A critique of current biomedical response to rising US mortality and deaths of despair. Concludes with 4 principles for responding.
