Stress and the City

It is a well known fact that living in an urban environment is related to elevated levels of stress. But why is that? Quite simply, people need space and space is hard to come by in big cities. Open spaces tend to lend people a sense of freedom. If I am unencumbered by obstacles or impinging stimuli in my general vicinity, I am able to sustain the illusion that I am in control of my environment and can choose my next move with relative freedom. In contrast, being crowded in by others reduces one's feelings of control. If people and things are constantly surrounding me, they are more likely to conflict with my needs and inhibit my sense of freedom. The lack of control and inhibition of freedom engendered by the crowded nature of urban life directly influences the stress levels of city-dwellers.

What can we do about the added stress of an urban environment? The first thing we can do is to understand that our surroundings often affect how we feel. Oftentimes we walk around completely unaware that our anxiety level has increased or that some stimulus has triggered our feelings of stress. Because these feelings are unrecognized and unacknowledged we often respond to them in maladaptive ways including increased interpersonal conflict, difficulty concentrating, and even the development of physical pains or ailments.

If we can learn to be in touch with our stress levels and aware of the situations that cause us to feel tense, we can better understand how to alleviate and cope with these feelings. I believe that the first step in effectively managing stress is taking a self-inventory and identifying all of the sources of stress in one's life. If your stress level feels overwhelming, it is often helpful to start a stress journal in which you identify when, how, and why you get stressed and how you react to your feelings. As you begin to keep track of your stress in a daily log, you will begin to see patterns and common themes that may be used to better understand and thus manage your reactions to stress. By becoming more aware of ourselves we can gain some control over our reactions and thus enhance the tools needed to cope with and reduce stress.
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