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Commuting time of more than 30 min one way linked to higher chance of depression
- tromp 3y agoChoice quote from this article about a study in Korea: > Finally, data on transportation modes—such as car, public transit, and walking—are not available in the KWCS database. Different transportation modes may lead to different physical and mental health effects (White and Rotton, 1998). That seems like a big understatement. I expect in roughly increasing order of depression, or decreasing order of satisfaction: walking, biking, train, subway, bus, car
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- throwaway22032 3y agoYeah, the comfort levels affect this hugely. I'd rather do a 45 minute commute via a clean air conditioned train with few and well behaved passengers than a 30 minute one on a crowded dirty bus.
- BobaFloutist 3y agoA thirty minute stroll from home to the office could be considered a net benefit, in all honesty.
- wizerdrobe 3y agoWhen I had the option of a 25 minute drive or a 35 minute bicycle ride I took the bicycle all the time. Exercise, sunlight, and the joy of passing stuck motorists in the bicycle lane.
- plumeria 3y agoSightseeing feels also different, in a better way, when cycling or walking than when using a car.
- cozzyd 3y agoI have 15-20 comfortable train ride followed by a 15 minute stroll. It's pretty relaxing... If I'm in a hurry I can use a bike share to bike from the train station to the office but that's less relaxing since you have to watch out for cars...
- lotsofpulp 3y agoIn a Mediterranean climate, yes.
- BobaFloutist 3y agoFair point.
- brailsafe 3y agoand a crowded dirty bus, for me at least, is wildly more preferable than driving unless the drive is some beautiful leisurely rural setting
- yetanother12345 3y ago> train with few and well behaved passengers Few? If you are commuting you will be doing so in the same drove as all the others that are trying to reach the office space within the same window of a select few hours. And, probably the same when you return. Few is not an option. As to well behaved, well... we all live in more or less mixed cultural groups these days thanks to i18n, expats, immigration, and travel and stuff... "one man's meat is another mans poison..." ... don't even get me started on the joys of smartphones - other peoples' smartphones... Added: With trains there is also the specific issue that your nominated 30 minute one-way commute will at random intervals be of much longer duration, possibly hours (most of these spent idle, waiting for something out of your control). And, the fact that you will not know this in advance. I have no knowledge of any train system anywhere in the world where this does not hold, but I would love to be enlightened.
- rightbyte 3y ago> walking, biking, train, subway, bus, car You grade subway as less depressing than bus and car? In which one of these transportation means are you stuck in a dark tunnel?
- scoobitydoobap 3y ago... but using transportation which requires little to no mental exertion or fear of getting into a violent car wreck.
- Runepika 3y agoFor many, the fear of being harmed by someone on public transportation has a much greater effect on the mind than the risk of getting in a car accident, even if the latter is more likely.
- minedwiz 3y agoProbably just a person to person thing, but I used to commute on the tube, and I loved tunnels. Way more than riding bus through some parts of London.
- tomashubelbauer 3y agoI live in a city with good public transport systems (Prague) and subway (metro) is pretty enjoyable except for maybe very late evening hours. Buses brake super hard and are crowded (which subways often are too but there it is more bearable than in a bus because Prague subway lines are relatively spacious and the trains are quite large as well unlike for example in London). Car you don't need to share, but you're definitely sharing the traffic jam as you are in a bus. Prague subway is not perfect, but it is definitely workable and at least for me would be more enjoyable than driving to work (if I didn't work from my home office).
- mplewis 3y agoYou don’t have to drive the subway.
- chrismcb 3y ago
- adamredwoods 3y agoComfort level includes transportation reliability: Anecdote: I rode the BART/MUNI every day in San Francisco to work for over 10 years. When I moved to the suburbs, I would drive to the BART and then take BART in, rather than take the bus to BART. What I noticed was whenever I had a bus transfer, the wait time and frustration would increase substantially. Buses were less reliable and trying to catch a connection was stressful. Driving enabled me to avoid those frustrating transfers by going to the most direct route on my own accord.
- gatane 3y agoWater is wet.
- latchkey 3y agoDue to working from home, I tend to reverse commute in my area rather often while running chores, and I can't understand how people sit in that traffic on a daily basis. It must be maddening.
- whartung 3y agoThe quality of the time is very important. I used to have a 1hr+ commute each way, but it was 70MPH on open highway. This is in stark contrast to a 1hr commute in gridlock traffic. My current commute (which I don't do daily) is 1:15, 1:30, and a mix of high speed freeway and slammed transitions. I'm very good friends with my XM radio. And, honestly, it doesn't depress me at all. I just roll with it.
- mcmoor 3y agoYeah other people here who rank car so low in satisfaction must be talking about traffic jam only. If the road is free and I can go fast, the satisfaction shoots up above any public transportation.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- francisofascii 3y agoWaiting for an RTO supporter to argue the opposite.
- UI_at_80x24 3y agoI disagree with these conclusions in principle. At 2 different stages of my life I've had a "long" commute. One was ~90km the other was ~20km. I drove one, and rode a bike for the other. Each took about an hour. I would listen to audiobooks on each one, and it was my favorite part of the day. I sincerely beleive that this is a `making lemonade out of lemons` type of situation. You can still "do something" with your time. Listen to a book, a lecture, podcasts. Anything that engages you and you enjoy. Stop looking at it as `wasted time in traffic`.
- hn_user2 3y agoIt is quite interesting the various anecdotes in the comments that all seem to have different opinions and contradict each other. All of which of course can be true--including the article. One thing can be linked to another and there still be outliers of course. For my story. I moved within walking distance of my office 20 years ago. Since then, I will never do any sort of commute. It completely changed my day. I since changed to remote work, but if I have to go into an office again, I will move within a couple blocks of wherever that office is.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- happytoexplain 3y agoThis is a confusing attitude - you felt OK with spending that time listening to something, so you "disagree with these conclusions"? The conclusion isn't that some people can't be OK with a long commute. You sound like you're trying to be helpful, but you also sound accusative toward people who are miserable commuting (regardless of what they are listening to while doing it). Obviously we can't solve the misery of the majority of those people by saying "you have the wrong attitude". "Making lemonade out of lemons" is simply inapplicable in this context. If a person can give up that time to commute, then that same person, without the commute, could give up that time to listen to something if they actually wanted to. The listening is merely a mitigation, which will help some people a lot, some people a little, and some people not at all - it's not some kind of opportunity.
- financltravsty 3y ago
- askonomm 3y agoI know back-to-office people like to pretend that commuting is this amazing thing, and that working in stuffy offices together whilst still staring mostly at a screen and communicating via Slack is somehow tons more productive than remote work, but I'm sure most people can see the obviousness that it's a net negative for mental health, no? And so if we know that, why are we still pushing for the unhealthy? Who cares about productivity when it comes at such a cost.
- Grimblewald 3y agoone of the biggest losses with commuting is the amount of housework that then doesn't get done. A half hour commute one way is an hour of my life I spend sitting every day. I would gladly spend half an hour a day cleaning house etc. if it meant I had a spare half hour to do fun things, instead I get home with just enough time to eat, shower, watch an episode of something and sleep. That's the real killer to mental health I think. You come home to a house with chores piling up, so things don't feel like a home, and you cannot find the willpower (after some time) to continue doing those chores at the expense of free time.
- vostok 3y agoIs a 30 minute commute that bad? I feel like a lot of people mindlessly browse for 60 minutes a day at home. You could do that on your commute instead of at home and get housework done at home.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- adamredwoods 3y agoMy commute, if I were to go in, is 40-60 minutes of intense, aggressive, vigilant driving. Parking (which I have to pay) and walking to the office then requires evading potentially violent people. I'm not saying working in the office is a bad thing, I quite enjoy it, but when you have a commute like mine, not commuting the better option.
- 3y ago
- philipov 3y agoI wonder if it's because long commutes are comorbid with not being able to afford living close to work and poverty, and poverty is well-known to be corrosive to mental health.
- Fricken 3y agoDo it on a bicycle, it will have the opposite effect.
- stevenae 3y agoOnce commuted bicycle + ferry (SF Bay). I looked forward to it every day.
- Erratic6576 3y agoYeah but where do you park the ferry when you arrive at work?
- yetanother12345 3y agoI've commuted using bicycle for years as I used to live-and-work in one of the top bicycle-friendly cities of the world. With that particular bias, I would agree. However, for many people cycling will not be an option, either because the commute is too long, or because of other obstacles. My bicycle commute time back then was higher than 30 mins per way, but it still was a net positive on my mood. It is just not an option for everyone.
- jcalvinowens 3y agoI commuted 1.5 hours each way for a summer job once, it lasted just long enough to really internalize how awful it is. I don't understand how anybody does that for more than a few months who doesn't absolutely have to.
- boring-alterego 3y agoI have an hour commute to and from work. Your playlist for music will never be long enough it will repeat regularly. Some recommendations after doing that for a couple decades, get into audiobooks or long form podcasts. Or schedule your drive in during a morning meeting and call in via teams/zoom/etc. Or use that time to call a different family member, friend or loved one.
- joeman1000 3y agoIf I had to commute by car every day in traffic… that would absolutely suck. Hopping on the train always feels better though. I get to see random people, relax, listen to music, not worry about crashing…