Mufungo said:

Well off countries don't have higher rates of mental illness. I'm pretty sure well off countries have lower rates. Generally speaking, higher mental/physical stress = higher possibility of mental illness.

I believe that mental illness is not a product of our society, but rather MI is something that has always been there but couldn't be seen because it was the norm, the "illness" and the behaviours that accompanied it weren't that unusual in times of old. It was only after the overall state of misery and risk of death decreased, and some people's behaviour didn't reflect this change, then what was considered normal and abnormal was redefined... leading to some people being "diagnosed" as being "abnormal" to societal expectations and therefore "ill".

But, regardless of whether it is an illness or just some aspect of our humanity that hasn't been able to keep up with a changing environment and society, the people who experience mental illness require and benefit from help from others. It's a situation that won't go away by just believing it didn't exist.

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your post makes a lot of sense.
but in reality "mentally ill" people should just "man up" and get on with it. at least they're not getting genocided. tsk

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Yeah depression happens, it's called life. Deal with it

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However, it is only because we as an industrilized, rich and educated society is less preoccupied with basic survival, that big-pharma companies bring these anamoly mindstates to light to profit off people.

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It comes down to: the more you examine the science of you and compare yourself to others, the more you will find you are abnormal. Our society reinforces this.

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YawningAnus said:

if you look at a list of the countries with the most reported cases of mental illness, I will bet you that those are the most well off nations that dont have things like genocide or starvation to worry about.

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Because impoverished, third-world countries fraught with genocide, starvation, malnutrition, and lack of scientific understanding don't exactly have the facilities or resources for addressing mental health concerns, perhaps?

No reason to pretend that such mental illness is the result from not having any real problems. Not having genocide or starvation is the luxury, but not being mentally ill. I'm sure the depression will clear right up once they are exposed to more trauma and suffering though, right?

fireworks_god said:

Because impoverished, third-world countries fraught with genocide, starvation, malnutrition, and lack of scientific understanding don't exactly have the facilities or resources for addressing mental health concerns, perhaps?

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ah, so you are saying that third world countries dont have enough psychiatrists to "diagnose" mental illness? I agree.... I have been saying for years on here that the amount of psychiatrists is directly correlated to the amount of people with mental illness

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No reason to pretend that such mental illness is the result from not having any real problems. Not having genocide or starvation is the luxury, but not being mentally ill. I'm sure the depression will clear right up once they are exposed to more trauma and suffering though, right?

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What exactly, in your opinion, is making one think they're being abnormal, when it comes to self-analysis?

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I too self analyze constantly, and find it very beneficial. However, i think there are alot of gullible people who "buy" into diseases which are marketed to them.

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Agreed.
Some people so buy into this stuff, but this doesn't mean that depression, for example, doesn't exist or that it is easy for those who are depressed to get over it. This of course doesn't mean that they will be able to grow out of their depression if they go to a psychiatrist to prescribe them pills, but it isn't like their options are limited or that someone actually comes in the way of their ability to inform themselves to a greater extent about the nature of depression.
To me it's quite clear that those who choose to take antidepressants do it because they find it the most convenient alternative for themselves, and that they probably don't want to resolve anything deeper than an unpleasant symptom.
What I find really funny is that I've heard people saying things like they didn't even know they were depressed until the doctor told them, and now that they're taking medication they're feeling a lot better. There's a good number of threads like that even in this forum.
Still, even in this case, it is still these people who decided that taking medication is what they prefer, instead of choosing to go to a psychologist, or, even better, solve their own issues.
Everybody gets what they want, it isn't like people who choose antidepressants are being fooled to do it.

YawningAnus said:

ah, so you are saying that third world countries dont have enough psychiatrists to "diagnose" mental illness? I agree.... I have been saying for years on here that the amount of psychiatrists is directly correlated to the amount of people with mental illness

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actually... yeah. I am absolutely sure that someone who is so depressed that they "cant get out of bed in the morning", when faced with imminent death will scratch and claw just as much as any other "normal" person would. I am saying that when life threatening situations are abundant and staring you in the face, you dont have time to be depressed, or freeze up and have an anxiety attack or ask them to repeat the question "will you renounce your faith" because you were daydreaming and just couldnt pay attention.

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Sure, faced with imminent death in which there are only a limited amount of choices to make that don't result in immediate death, most severely depressed individuals are probably prone to reacting to these circumstances, but why do you think that being in such a traumatic, suffering circumstance is going to resolve the emotional states that they have immersed themselves within previously?
Scratching and clawing for life is certainly different than feeling so negatively emotionally that one doesn't want to get out of bed, but the fact that one is scratching and clawing doesn't mean that one has subsequently been resolved of the mental affliction that was bringing them to choose to stay in bed. Its only a difference of external actions.
You've changed the behavior, perhaps changing the behavior will change the mental experience over time, but typically prolonged starvation and genocide don't clear up mental disorders.

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do you disagree that in a foxhole, there is such a thing as depression, and adhd? (i left out anxiety because some could claim to be anxious when bullets are whizzing overhead).
do you think that when you are nearly starving to death that you have the time or energy to sigh and say woe is me? im willing to bet you are wondering how to get some food a majority of the time.

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that is what I meant that it is a luxury to be able to sit around and complain about how unfair life is, and about how inexplicably fucked up your life is (hint: its only inexplicable because you refuse to confront things in your life)

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