How city stress affects depression, anxiety, and alcohol use

What is this trial?

Researchers want to understand how living in cities—with pollution, noise, and less green space—affects mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and alcohol use disorder. This study will ask you to wear a special wristwatch and use a smartphone app that continuously tracks your environment (temperature, light, noise, air quality) and your body's responses (heart rate, activity level) over time. By combining this real-world data with blood and urine samples, researchers hope to understand the hidden connections between urban stress and mental illness.

While we know that environmental stress plays a major role in mental health problems, we don't yet understand exactly how or why. Most past research has only looked at personal life events, not the everyday urban stressors everyone faces. This study aims to fill that gap by measuring real-time environmental exposure and its effects on your body and mind.

Do you qualify?

You likely qualify if…

you are between 18 and 60 years old
you have been diagnosed with depression, generalized anxiety disorder, or alcohol use disorder (or you are a healthy volunteer)
you own a smartphone with Android and are willing to use it for the study
you are able and willing to wear a wristband that monitors your heart rate and other body signals
if you have depression or anxiety, you have been on a stable dose of an approved antidepressant for at least 5 days
if you have alcohol use disorder, you have successfully stopped drinking alcohol

You likely don't qualify if…

you are currently taking opioid pain medications
you have received brain stimulation therapy (like TMS) in the past month
you have a skin infection or severe skin damage on your wrist or arms
you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a serious physical illness like a brain tumor
you are having severe suicidal thoughts

What participation looks like

You will visit the research clinic for an initial assessment where you'll complete mental health questionnaires and provide blood and urine samples. Then you'll wear a special wristwatch and use a smartphone app that automatically track your environment and body signals—no extra effort needed—while going about your daily life in the city. The study is designed as a long-term observation to see how environmental changes relate to your symptoms over time, with follow-up visits to check in with the research team.

How city stress affects depression, anxiety, and alcohol use

What is this trial?

Do you qualify?

What participation looks like

Trial locations(3 sites)