Here's an interesting thought: you may be living in the most depressing place in America and not even realize it. I just found out that I live in the number one most depressed place, and I didn't even know it, until I came across this article on the blog PsychCentral called "The Most Depressing Places to Live in the U.S., 2011." Mind you this depressing stat has nothing to do with a survey about jobs or the economy. PsychCentral put together this list based on Google searches.
Basically, here's what researchers did: using Google Trends they looked at different geographic regions and where searches including the word "depression" were the most popular. Turns out I'm living in Ground Zero for depression—Pennsylvania is the most depressed state and nearby Philadelphia is the city where more people are searching for information on depression and depression-related topics.
Wondering what the entire top 10 most depressing places to live in the United States are?
Here are the top 10 states:
And here are the top 10 cities:
You know what's depressing? I have lived in three of these most depressed states. And what do these three states have in common—besides having had me as a resident? It turns out that two of these states are not the sunniest places in America.
According to one survey, the cities/states that are sunniest most of the year are Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, and Florida. What are some of the cloudiest cites/states in the United States? Well, Washington State is number one, Pennsylvania is number three, and Michigan is number six.
Studies have shown a correlation between days of sunshine and SAD—or Seasonal Affective Disorder, a depressive syndrome. I know that I suffer from SAD, especially if there are days on end of cloudiness and grayness outside.
What this lack of sun has meant for me is that whenever it is sunny out, I make sure to get outside and walk my dog in the neighborhood before the sun goes behind a cloud. During the dark days of winter, when there is no sun to be had, I might sit in front of a full-spectrum light box for about 20 minutes in the morning to get my dose of sunshine.
Maybe the other way to lift my mood in the future is when considering where to live, I try to find a place where as many residents aren't searching for the word "depression" as they are here in Pennsylvania.
Wisconsin, here I come?