Poverty, depression, and anxiety: Causal evidence and mechanisms

Matthew Ridley; Gautam Rao; Frank Schilbach; Vikram Patel

doi:10.1126/science.aay0214

Abstract

Taxing mental health Mental equilibrium is essential for an economically productive life in both industrialized and developing countries. Accumulating evidence shows that mental ill-health and poverty tend to be traveling partners, but which is the cause? Ridley et al. reviewed the literature on natural and controlled economic experiments involving individuals living in poverty. The authors sought to resolve the mechanisms whereby poverty triggers mental illness and how mental illness compounds poverty. Their results reveal the benefits of cash support and of low-cost therapeutic interventions for those suffering from mental illness under poverty. Science , this issue p. eaay0214

Keywords

PovertyMental illnessMental healthPsychological interventionAnxietyDeveloping countryDepression (economics)Cash transfersPsychologyPsychiatryDevelopment economicsEconomicsEconomic growth

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Publication Info

Year: 2020
Type: review
Volume: 370
Issue: 6522
Citations: 1005
Access: Closed

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APA Style

                            
                                
                                    Matthew Ridley, 
                                
                                    Gautam Rao, 
                                
                                    Frank Schilbach
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (2020). 
                            Poverty, depression, and anxiety: Causal evidence and mechanisms. 
                            Science
                            , 370
                            (6522)
                            .
                            https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay0214
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1126/science.aay0214