Urban Hell: Real Places That Look Like Scenes From A Dystopian Film

Of course, city living has a lot to offer. From local coffee shops and restaurants to attending cultural events and meeting people from diverse backgrounds, spending your days in a metropolis can be exciting.

But some of the issues that are evident in these pictures don't just look bad. They also damage our health. And we're not talking about minor annoyances. Constant stimulation from a busy city living can take a big toll on your mental well-being.

Compared to rural residents, researchers have discovered that urbanites are 21 percent more likely to have anxiety disorders and 39 percent more likely to have mood disorders. A 2017 meta-analysis also found that rates of the following conditions were also higher among those living in urban areas:

• PTSD;
• anger management;
• generalized anxiety disorder.

The same was true for more serious disorders like schizophrenia and paranoia.

Psychiatrists think it's because the constant stimulation of city life can put you in difficult situations where you get the fight-or-flight response, which in turn alters how you cope with stress.

But the problems don't end there. City living can also chip away at your psychological immune system, which can be precarious for those with a family history of mental illness. According to experts, this environmental stress can increase their risk of developing a psychiatric condition, such as anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder.

But even though urban life may lead to emotional distress, shame and stigma can stop young adults from talking about their struggles. This may explain why they feel lonelier than older generations, according to a Cigna study. What's more, young adults, especially millennials, often feel burned out.

Some folks view them as incompetent adults who shy away from responsibility, but as Anne Helen Peterson explained to Buzzfeed, millennials have "errand paralysis" and think they should always be working.

City life can also affect our physical health. A 2017 study suggests too much exposure to air pollution and city noise may cause damage to a person's cardiovascular health.

For instance, never-ending traffic noise may interfere with our sleep quality and cause cortisol, the stress hormone, to spike. Over time, elevated levels of this hormone can increase our risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

It also seems urban dwellers may be more prone to insomnia and sleep difficulties. In a survey of more than 15,000 individuals, researchers found that the bright lights of a city can dampen a person's ability to get a good night's rest.

According to the survey, 6 percent of people living in highly lit, urban areas slept less than six hours each night. Furthermore, 29 percent of these urbanites were dissatisfied with the quality of their nighttime rest.

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