Factors related to depression and stress in a semi-modern village in Vietnam
Modern lifestyles are linked to a plethora of negative health outcomes ranging from autoimmune diseases to mental health disorders. On the other hand, hunter gatherer societies who live like our ancestors did before agriculture and industrialization, are mostly free from common diseases that are prevalent in Westernized society. Extant Non- traditional societies and mixed urban/rural societies are good models for investigating how traditional society can protect against modern ailments and for understanding how modernity can predispose modern ailments.
So far, my research in Chieng Sai, Vietnam, has had 2 main aims:
1. To measure the proportion of individuals in an ethnic community who are at risk of stress and depression related ailments.
2. To measure how factors related to modernity and the human evolutionary past are associated with psychological distress.
Freshly printed surveys for my thesis project
Main findings
Roughy 20% of individuals reported depression and stress symptoms. Depression =16%, Stress =16%
Factors like adequate exercise, getting enough sleep, and consumption of alcohol were associated with lower odds of reporting psychological distress symptoms. On the other hand, factors like working too many hours, earning a low income, and not getting enough exercise were associated with higher odds of reporting psychological distress symptoms.
Implications
The onset of modern lifestyles and economic development might be leading to negative mental health outcomes in Chieng Sai Village. This might also be true for other rapidly developing ethnic villages in Vietnam and abroad. This situation warrants further research on the negative health impacts of modernity and suggests that the following steps be considered:
- Mental health diagnoses and interventions in rural villages like Chieng Sai
- Education modification to include evolutionary science
- Medical treatment modifications to include evolutionary medicine approaches