PARADISE PARADOX

After moving from cities to rural areas, many women struggle with their mental well-being. Experts explain why naturally beautiful areas aren't a panacea, and offer coping mechanisms.

-  AMELIA ARVESEN

Going out to glam events multiple times a week was a big part of Amanda Moran's life when she lived in Miami. But just before the COVID-19 pandemic officially shut everything down in 2020, she escaped to Boulder, Colorado, to get closer to nature to explore its healing properties while enrolled in an herbalism program.

There, she traded skyscrapers for tall pines and mountains, and nights out for days on the trails. Instead of spending time in restaurants and clubs, Moran foraged wildflowers to turn into tinctures. At first, she loved it.

"I thought, This is the best place in the world," says Moran, now 29, who cofounded the botanical-infused beverage company Beauty Booze after her move.

But after only one euphoric year in Boulder, the honeymoon phase waned. She felt alone. As a first-generation immigrant from Brazil, she missed her community of Portuguese-speaking friends in Miami, as well as the perks of the big city. For Moran, being in a more nature-centric environment "definitely wasn't life-changing in the way that I thought it was going to be, long-term."

Mass Migration 

Hundreds of thousands of people moved from urban areas to smaller cities and towns during the pandemic. For many, moving was a way to escape the risks and restrictions of densely populated areas that were impacting their mental health, says Ariel Landrum, LMFT, a therapist at Guidance Teletherapy Family Counseling Inc.

But what many might not have realized is that folks in more remote and rural parts of the country have long struggled with mental health issues. In fact, a cluster of states in the Mountain West that exploded in population at the height of COVID is known as the Suicide Belt.