Depression and suicide linked to air pollution in new global study
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Re: Depression and suicide linked to air pollution in new global study
#2Something that isn't immediately clear to me is whether they accounted for the causes of air pollution.
If not this is like observing that there are a lot of loud bangs in warzones and concluding loud noises kill people, even though they are at best just a side effect of the actual causes.
Re: Depression and suicide linked to air pollution in new global study
#3Something that isn't immediately clear to me is whether they accounted for the causes of air pollution. If not this is like observing that there are a lot of loud bangs in warzones and concluding loud noises kill people, even though they are at best just a side effect of the actual causes.
I don't know if this really answers your question, but seems to be relevant:
> The particle pollution analysed in the study is produced by burning fossil fuels in vehicles, homes and industry.
Re: Depression and suicide linked to air pollution in new global study
#4The causal relationship seems like a stretch here. I highly doubt reducing air pollution will cure anyone’s depression.
That said, it has other value in signally regions of high air pollution are regions of higher proportional depression.
Areas of high pollution are less desirable to live in. If you live right next to a highway, garbage dump or power plant, your property value is going to be lower. (I must admit, I’m taking a US-centric perspective here)
With that in mind, you could just as easily conclude that living in poorer regions causes depression.
Anyone who thinks curing depression is as simple as cleaning up the air is oversimplifying a much more complicated relationship.
Re: Depression and suicide linked to air pollution in new global study
#5There are many factors at work here but I am sure being forced to stay indoor is depressive as hell. The city where I live has been in constant smog with AQI in the range of 200~300* and every outdoor activities are stopped, I can't even talk a walk around the nearby lakes to relieve my stress.
* the air is terrible already and the government is going to build more coal plants, powered by the 'cleanest coal' approved by the POTUS, sigh. Instead of one nuclear power plant now we have four coal plants instead, great.
Re: Depression and suicide linked to air pollution in new global study
#6Re: Depression and suicide linked to air pollution in new global study
#7> The results show strong correlations, but research that would prove a causal link is difficult because ethical experiments cannot deliberately expose people to harm.
This is kind of my hobby horse: you don't need to subject people to harm to test causuality. You can do the opposite: Remove harm and see what happens. Maybe give people free HVAC upgrades to filter more particles.
Re: Depression and suicide linked to air pollution in new global study
#8I live in Northern India which has heavy air pollution. I recently bought an air purifier. Just the difference in the quality of sleep is amazing. And it is not a placebo effect. The filters are already visibly grimy. The PM 2.5 consistently now is around mid 20s down from around 180-190.
I would recommend it to all in North India who can afford it, esp households with small children.
Re: Depression and suicide linked to air pollution in new global study
#9Wouldn't a cleaner observation be: "depression and suicide linked to the largest cities in new global study"?
Re: Depression and suicide linked to air pollution in new global study
#10> The results show strong correlations, but research that would prove a causal link is difficult because ethical experiments cannot deliberately expose people to harm. This is kind of my hobby horse: you don't need to subject people to harm to test causuality. You can do the opposite: Remove harm and see what happens. Maybe give people free HVAC upgrades to filter more particles.
It's a lot harder to test without administering the subject in question because there are far more variables to control than (mostly) just A/B. HVAC may confound the study by removing the actual responsible substances, for example, if "air pollution" is not solely the cause.