>>1773566In human societies, we see the opposite effect. Some of the highest suicide rates and rates of serious mental illness in America are found in the least densely populated areas, Alaska and Wyoming, while the more densely populated states, New York, Rhode Island, and California, are less seriously mentally ill.
There’s just more mentally ill people in those states because there’s more people. People need some kind of societal density since we are social creatures.
The issue with stuff like the mouse utopia and behavioral sink experiments, other than being fucking mouse trials, is that there was no tasks for the mice. There was no struggle to get food or anything. Boredom lead to the degradation there, and not necessarily the density.
Though excessive density could be an issue; ignoring Japan’s suicide rate would be dishonest, though their issues are likely a cultural expectation thing rather than a density thing. Russia has a higher suicide rate than Japan, but South Korea higher than Russia. Once you get to looking at significantly different cultures, this thing breaks down.
I also like using suicide rate for mental illness because mental illness is too loosely defined. However, if you’re willing to kill yourself, then you’re definitely seriously mentally ill.
