Is Air Pollution Causing Mental Health Conditions?

poor air quality causes mental health problemsThe air pollution is plentiful in the world today. It is caused by a variety of issues and it can be dangerous for all of us. When figuring out if poor air quality is causing mentalĀ  health issues, it’s a good idea to read through this article for further information. You may find some of the information to be upsetting but it is helpful none-the-less.

Poor Air Quality Causing Mental Health Conditions

With a study that used 151 million people from the United States and 1.4 from Denmark, there are ample reasons to worry. Poor air quality is linked to depression, bipolar, Schizophrenia, and more. By looking into the information further, the study produced results that after ethnicity, air quality was the cause of mental health issues. In an area in the UK, air pollution was found to cause teenage psychotic experiences to add to the mix of worries about air pollution and mental health.

Other Causes Besides Air Quality For Mental Health Issues

There are other reasons besides air quality that also precipitate mental health conditions. One of them is traffic noise and this has caused many psychiatric problems. Another is poverty and deprivation which can exasperate all mental health conditions because the person is in a constant state of doing without the necessities of life.

There Are Reasons Why Air Pollutants Affect Our Brains

Since it is a cause of concern, air pollutants are being looked at closely. Finding correlations between bad air quality and mental health problems is always of concern for the world as a whole. Here are three of the ways that they can affect our brains and cause us to have health conditions:

1. PM2.5s – PM2.5s are the smallest types of air pollutants. They can pass through to the brain easily. This can lead to all kinds of mental health upsets for many people. In most cases, people can deal with this in a good way. They are able to stay in good condition mentally as well as physically but there are always the ones that are susceptible to this on a regular basis.

2. Body Inflammation – Air pollution can cause inflammations in the body. This can have disastrous effects on the brain and cause episodes in highly prone people. Since this is problematic in areas that have bad air quality, it is known that it can have huge effects on those that are already inundated by their mental health issues.

3. DNA – The epigenetic changes that air pollution causes on DNA is another way to spark mental health disorders. It can lead to someone having altered states in their mental makeup. This is no way suggests that it is the cause of DNA mutations but that it can create the possibilities of the altered states in people that are prone to such episodes in their mental health conditions. It can make them worse so to speak.

More Needs To Be Done

The understanding of air pollution on brains needs to be looked at more closely. The studies have proven that physical health is hurt by poor air quality but the information is years behind for the correlation of bad air and mental health issues. By making the studies more frequent and inclusive, the updates will lead to further education in bad air quality issues.

Knowing that air quality has a definite impact on mental health should make us all more aware. It is a good idea to live in areas that do something about air pollution and if you cannot, you may want to look into positive ways to work on your mental health. Staying active and healthy is important for everyone, and exercising the brain correctly will give you an added measure for staying fit in this manner.