So it is now confirmed that city life can make us mad

ALL of us who work in the Klang Valley, or any of the major towns in the country, must surely dream of the day when we can retire to some quiet village, preferably by the beach or up in the hills, and say goodbye to the stress of urban life.

My colleague Wong Sai Wan lamented in his column Why Not? on Thursday about the terrible jams he has to endure each day commuting to and from work. No doubt, his recent six-hour “horror crawl” from Malacca to Subang Jaya must have prompted him to write on this subject.

It seems ironic that the majority of us who work in the big cities actually come from smaller towns and kampungs. In our younger days, we were lured by the bright city lights and the search for employment opportunities. We didn't think too much about stress.

Sometime last year Dutch researchers showed that city dwellers have a 21% higher risk of developing anxiety disorders than do their calmer rural countrymen, and a 39% higher risk of developing mood disorders.

Even without the benefit of scientific research, most of us would agree that life in the city is certainly more stressful. Imagine taking six hours to travel from point A to point B, when the journey would have taken less than two hours in smooth traffic.

A study published last week in the highly respected journal Nature has now confirmed that the brains of city dwellers and their country cousins react differently when they are under stress.

There is a lot of scientific jargon in the study by Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg of the University of Heidelberg and his colleagues, but the popular press has summarised their findings this way while previous research has shown that people who live in cities have higher rates of anxiety and depression, this study is the first to pinpoint the changes in the brain that underlie the phenomenon.

The research shows that there is a direct link between stress and increased activity in certain parts of the brain that can cause mental illnesses.

Another interesting finding is that moving away to the quiet countryside is probably too little, too late. The researchers found that urban dwellers who moved far away from city commotion still displayed similar mental hyperactivity, meaning those patterns are likely established when the mind is young.

So for those of us contemplating moving far away from the madding crowd, we have to be careful that we do not, in turn, bring our “urban madness” to our rural counterparts.

I have always imagined myself in retirement, starting life afresh in a quiet village somewhere on the East Coast. Here I would be able to walk on the beach, go bird-watching, start a free English tuition service for the children, work with cancer survivors, and still be connected to the rest of the world because of highspeed broadband.

But maybe this is a bit too romantic. As a friend pointed out to me, “You will get sick of the sunsets after one week!”

Perhaps the solution is somewhere in between, and this is something I hope Corporate Malaysia and the Government will reflect on. It is time to develop amenities that effectively allow us to be gainfully employed in the smaller towns while not sacrificing some of the benefits of city life.

In an interview with Discovery News, Meyer-Lindenberg said he was surprised by the magnitude and specificity of the findings.

The next step, he said, would be to determine what it is about city life that makes it so stressful. Is it the crowding, the noise, the pollution or something else? He said he hopes the answers might help urban planners design cities more conducive to mental health.

In the meantime, he recommends that to control stress, city dwellers might try meditation, which can impact neural circuitry. If that doesn't help, he recommends a weekend getaway, adding, “It doesn't hurt to occasionally get out into the country.”

Just make sure you don't get caught in a six-hour jam like my friend Sai Wan.

I dont have the jam problem, I stay near to my company... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

i remember last time when i stay in kl i got stuck in jam average 1-2 hour......i was telling myself when i get into corporate world cham lor....

penang was no better in fact worst.....a 20km road can take you 2 hours.....in fact yesterday i was stuck in another jam for 1.5 hours haih....

but i have benefits like flexi hours and working from home [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

wah sun i admire you.....staing near to office is my dream

phoenix wrote:wah sun i admire you.....staing near to office is my dream

me 2 ... everyday it took me roughly 1hr 2 get 2 d office by 6.15am i shd on d road ...

sun wrote:I dont have the jam problem, I stay near to my company... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

meaning its within walking distance 2 ur office ?

hlk which line are you in?? what is your job role?

phoenix wrote:i remember last time when i stay in kl i got stuck in jam average 1-2 hour......i was telling myself when i get into corporate world cham lor....

penang was no better in fact worst.....a 20km road can take you 2 hours.....in fact yesterday i was stuck in another jam for 1.5 hours haih....

but i have benefits like flexi hours and working from home [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

yes, I faced the jam problem also when go Penang just for vacation [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

phoenix wrote:wah sun i admire you.....staing near to office is my dream

I normally stay somewhere near to my company. Hence, I seldom change job unless is really necessary, moving is a big headache for me [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

hlk wrote:

phoenix wrote:wah sun i admire you.....staing near to office is my dream

me 2 ... everyday it took me roughly 1hr 2 get 2 d office by 6.15am i shd on d road ... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

wah! so cham, will be so tired when reach office le, for me, I cant be productive if like this [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

phoenix wrote:hlk which line are you in?? what is your job role?

multi tasker ...

hlk wrote:

sun wrote:I dont have the jam problem, I stay near to my company... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

meaning its within walking distance 2 ur office ?

if walk abt 15 minutes (my speed), drive abt 5 minutes. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

phoenix wrote:hlk which line are you in?? what is your job role?

hlk is financial news caster.... at BC [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

hlk wrote:

phoenix wrote:hlk which line are you in?? what is your job role?

multi tasker ... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

this means 'one leg kick' type of job i guess [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

sun wrote:

hlk wrote:

phoenix wrote:hlk which line are you in?? what is your job role?

multi tasker ... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

this means 'one leg kick' type of job i guess [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

boss?? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

phoenix wrote:

sun wrote:

hlk wrote:

phoenix wrote:hlk which line are you in?? what is your job role?

multi tasker ... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

this means 'one leg kick' type of job i guess [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

boss?? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

nope ... kuli lah still hv 2 look over my shoulder when snake 2 klci ...

sun wrote:

hlk wrote:

sun wrote:I dont have the jam problem, I stay near to my company... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

meaning its within walking distance 2 ur office ?

if walk abt 15 minutes (my speed), drive abt 5 minutes. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

hw nice ...