No one likes getting stuck in traffic with the noise, and the air pollution, not to mention the boredom, but a recent study shows it can also be detrimental to our mental health. A study published in the Journal of Transport & Health shows how a number of effects of longer daily commutes can snowball into depression.
Longer daily commutes have been linked to several adverse effects on one’s health caused by being less physically active, drinking more alcohol and even sleeping poorly since it leaves less time around busy days for commuters to engage in other activities.
However, there is not a lot of research on the health impact of lengthy commutes, particularly in Asian countries.
The recent study was conducted in South Korea, a country which is said to be among those with some of the longest average commuting times and highest rates of depression among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
Researchers analysed data from 23,415 people aged between 20 and 59 years from the Fifth Korean Working Condition Survey, a nationally representative survey conducted in 2017.
The participants were asked to answer questions based on the five-point World Health Organization (WHO) well-being index and the researchers determined their mental health.
The team of researchers also examined several factors including sex, age, education, income, region, marital status, occupation, weekly working hours, shift work, and so on.
The findings were published by a research team led by Dr Lee Dong-wook, a professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Inha University Hospital in South Korea.
According to the study, people who spend more than 60 minutes commuting to and from work are 1.16 times more likely to suffer from depression than those who spend less than half an hour.
The average daily commute time was 47 minutes, according to the study, which is nearly four hours spent commuting per week if a person worked five days. The researchers said that this much time spent commuting can cause physical as well as psychological stress.
“With less time to spare, people could be short of time to relieve stress and combat physical fatigue through sleep, hobbies, and other activities,” researchers told Korea Biomedical Review (KBR), last week.
They added that this also leaves people with less time to invest in a healthy lifestyle, including exercise which may also contribute to depression. At least one-quarter of the 23,415 participants said that they experience depressive symptoms, which the researchers based on their index scores which is far from an actual diagnosis of any kind.
While the study also does not show any cause and effect it does link more than hour-long commutes to poorer mental health and noted that it was strongest among men who were unmarried, worked more than 52 hours per week and had no children.
Meanwhile, for females, long commuting times were most strongly linked with depressive symptoms among low-income workers, shift workers, and those with children.
“The association between long commuting times and worsened depressive symptoms was found to be stronger among low-income workers,” the researchers noted.
