Air pollution on the body is usually visible in physical health, such as heart diseases, lung issues, allergies, and asthma. But, mental health can feel the impact too.

An emerging research even revealed that when we breathe unhealthy air, it can directly influence our emotional and mental well-being. So, you might suffer depression, cognitive problems and anxiety, due to this.

These issues are expected because we live in a world of industrial zones and traffic-heavy roads. But, being aware of what to do will leave you suffering less impact on your mental health. Let’s see how:

How to Safeguard Your Mental Health in Polluted Areas

Here are steps you can take to protect yourself from environmental pollutants:

1. Monitor Air Quality Levels: Instead of breathing in polluted air and moving on with your life, you can use apps or local data to keep an eye on what you’re inhaling.
2. Grow Plants Indoors: Brightening up your space and freshening the air around you can add freshness to your space. You can plant low-maintenance plants like peace lilies in your living space. It has natural air purifiers that can help to reduce pollutants and boost your mood.
3. Advocate for Cleaner Energy: You may never know how far your voice can go unless you speak up. So, seeking support for greener city planning and cleaner energy can help to create a more sustainable environment.

Polluted Air Disrupts Brain Chemistry

Particulate matter (PM2.5) is an airborne particle that is quite hazardous. The thing is that they are invisible to the naked eye yet can cause mental health problems. The particles can enter the bloodstream and then the brain, triggering oxidative stress and inflammation.

Having excellent mental health is important, and you shouldn’t just let pollutants ruin it for you. Take for instance the neurotransmitters; dopamine and serotonin. They help to regulate motivation, emotional stability, and mood. Any disruption can lead to increased sadness, irritability, or unstable mood. This is why you need to be invested in everything clean energy. This way you can maintain good mental health.

Increased Risk of Depression and Anxiety

When an individual is exposed to long-term pollution, it can lead to higher risks of clinical depression, chronic anxiety, and stress-related disorders. This should be taken seriously because stress hormones like “Cortisol” can increase due to pollution, and if this happens, it can affect the areas of the brain that are responsible for regulating emotion.

It Impairs Cognitive Function

Some young children and older adults have issues with remembering things. However, this may only affect people living in high-pollution areas. Air pollution can really hinder brain development in children and increase the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia in seniors.They may suffer slower reaction times, reduced memory retention, impaired decision-making, and difficulty concentrating.

Sleep Disturbances and Fatigue

Your quality of sleep can be measured by the state of your mental health. This means that breathing bad air will not only make you sick, but also make restful sleep hard to achieve. This occurs mainly due to tiny particles from pollutants causing unsettling feelings in the respiratory system. With this, breathing can be quite difficult at night, and you know what poor sleep can do to your health. It contributes to irritability, mood swings, poor focus, and increased risk of depression.

Sense of Well-Being Declines

If the environment you live in does not shape your mindset, it means you’re not really on this planet. Most people are victims of air pollution because they live in an area where it is persistent. Living in a nasty environment not only gradually lowers your sense of well-being but it can also make you feel less naturally relaxed because the air isn’t clean. The worst that can happen is psychological stress, due to unpleasant smells, smog-filled skies, and heavy traffic. Pollution in the environment air can also lead to lower motivation, causing you to do tasks unwillingly. It also reduces life satisfaction and causes social withdrawal.

Conclusion

Air pollution has always been an environmental threat. But it is more of a silent mental health disruptor than you’ll ever know. Here, you’ve seen how it can influence brain chemistry, trigger emotional stress, and impair cognitive functions. What you need to do is to safeguard your mind and the ecosystem, by first identifying this hidden threat.

If you are someone that requires medical insurance, then you will know just how annoying it can be to find an insurance company with your best interest in mind. We are a lead generation, which means that we are always on the lookout for the best insurance companies to meet our needs and if you have been lucky enough to find an insurance lead, you may be excited to set up an account and get yourself protected.

Before you can commit to an insurance company, you must first take the time to read their terms and conditions. Within these terms and conditions you are likely to find clauses and here are some of the clauses you should look out for.

Pre and post hospital expenses

Something that you may not know is that your health insurance may either cover you on just pre or post hospitalisation expenses. This means that you may be covered on any doctors appointments but when it comes to actually going to hospital, you may not have the same coverage.

You should also not assume that everything medical related is covered by your medical insurance, as they will unfortunately take any step that they can in order to avoid paying out more money that you can. So if you take part in something like acupuncture or naturopathy, it is likely that your insurance will not cover the cost, even if you consider it to be a medical expense.

When it comes to pre and post hospital expenses , different insurance companies have periods between doctor and hospital treatments. So if you think that a set of treatment counts under the same claim, you may be wrong as the time between it may categorise it as two different points of treatment.  This may mean that you have additional premiums on top of your insurance, so you should look into this.

The waiting period

This clause is very often neglected when people first purchase their insurance and for this reason, people often forget that it exists.  Every time you purchase insurance, it comes with a waiting period. This means that you can not use your insurance straight away and if you experience any injury before your waiting period then you may have to pay for the bill out of your own money.

On top of having a waiting period for when you first purchase your insurance, there is also a waiting period between claims. This waiting period can be upwards of 60 days, so if you injure yourself several times within a small period of time you may not be covered and you will have to cover any of the expenses yourself, so be sure to check what the wait period is on whichever insurance agreement you make.

Insurance limits

When you purchase insurance, you may initially believe that you are completely covered on all injuries with your claim, but this really isn’t the case. Every insurance company has their limits and it would be impossible for them to be able to cover all injuries, as it would be too expensive.

If you are someone that has some serious health issues and you know that you will be dependent on your health insurance quite frequently. There are yearly limits on what your insurance company is willing to pay out and if you are frequently needing medical assistance, you will reach this limit quite quickly and may have to pay premiums to compensate for the extra care that you have needed .

Remember to always read the fine print when it comes to insurance, as you never know what has been hidden.