Page 229 - RUICHSS 2023 Proceeding

University of Ruhuna ISSN: 2706-0063
Matara, Sri Lanka

20 million individuals worldwide have schizophrenia or another mental

ailment (Akins, 2022).

Researchers have made different conclusions when perusing the literature on

the impact of urbanisation on mental disorders. According to De Vries et al.
(2018), in low-income countries mental disorders are higher in residential

areas which are crowded due to lower living standards, unemployment,
poverty, crime, pollution, cultural change, conflict, estrangement, and

isolation. Turan and Besirli (2008) also conclude that the probability of

developing a psychotic disorder caused by schizophrenia is amplified from
being born or most of the childhood spent inurban areas. The same study by

Turan and Besirli (2008) indicates that the rapid urbanisation rate increases
the psychosis and depression rate for both men and women due to the social

stress, environmental pollution, and noise arising from higher population
densities reported within urban areas. Another study by Adli (2011) shows that

the urban population has a 20% higher risk of developing an anxiety disorder

and a 40% risk of developing a mood disorder.

According to studies by Kumar et al. (2005), mental health issues are prevalent

in underprivileged urban areas, with factors such as limited access to mental
healthcare, poverty and economic stress, violence and crime, substance abuse,

inadequate housing and homelessness, social isolation, environmental
stressors, limited educational opportunities, discrimination and stigma, and

community and family support playing crucial roles in exacerbated mental

170