Despite the comforts of modern life, we are facing a mental health crisis. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, more than 1 in 5 adults live with a mental disorder. Young adults aged 18-25 have the highest rate of mental illness (36%), and those with serious mental illness experience functional impairment and interference with life activities.
A new publication in the journal Brain Medicine points to a possible link between microplastics and mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. Microplastics, which are tiny particles shed from the use and degradation of plastic products, have a reputation that precedes them. Researchers proclaimed a few years ago that we ingest a credit card’s worth of these plastic shards each week.
