Why would better neighborhoods increase mental health?!

Why would better neighborhoods increase mental health?

Older men living in neighborhoods with sidewalks, and with restaurants and other such destinations within walking distance, may be less prone to depression than are men from areas characterized by “suburban sprawl,” according to an April article in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Researchers at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., studied 740 older adults in the Seattle area and found that men living in the more pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods seemed to have fewer symptoms of depression than did their peers in neighborhoods that were not as easy to navigate on foot. The findings did not seem to apply to women, the researchers said – possibly because women tend to have more social support than men, which helps prevent depression, and possibly because women are more likely to seek treatment, rendering them less vulnerable than men are to environmental factors that exacerbate depression.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthnew...

2 weeks ago
I hate to say this and spoil the good answers, but the truth is that people want to stay in their own homes and they have the right to do that. Those living in the country need supports, not to lose their homes, they need friends and allies that will be there for them, not to have to move. I don't see this as a positive way to go. What is needed is more of what they need and what they ask for, not more being pushed on them against their will. They need a friend to take them or go to the store or go and visit them at times and things like that, not to move into a city. Since most of them retired to the country from the city after they worked in a city all their lives what do you think they really want and the ones that stayed their love that land. Don't make them give up their hopes and dreams find ways to treat them better and make them happy in that way that is what I think. It is more peaceful in the country, just maybe a little harder to get the assistance one might ask for.

When people get older, they tend to stop driving because their sight/hearing may deteriorate, and much of their exercise comes from walking since it's very low-impact. Imagine if you lived somewhere where you could buy groceries, go see a movie, and watch children play in a park just by taking a short walk outside every day. You don't have to sit around worrying about when you will be able to go to the store or suddenly having to go to the bathroom while walking on a long stretch of suburban sprawl.

Worrying about this stuff can certainly induce depression and make someone feel trapped.