Urbanicity: The need for new avenues to explore the link between urban living and psychosis

Abstract

AIM: A growing body of evidence suggests that urban living contributes to the development of psychosis. However, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain unclear. This paper aims to explore the best available knowledge on the matter, identify research gaps and outline future prospects for research strategies. METHOD: A comprehensive literature survey on the main computerized medical research databases, with a time limit up to August 2017 on the issue of urbanicity and psychosis has been conducted. RESULTS: The impact of urbanicity may result from a wide range of factors (from urban material features to stressful impact of social life) leading to "urban stress." The latter may link ur..