Is mental health taking over
Discussion
Great that people are talking about it but it's getting to the point that it seems everyone is bringing their issues to the forefront. I barely spend any of my worktime now managing work issues and more and more having one to one chats with people.
Is there an underlying mass issue that is coming to the fore now or are people taking advantage of it in a way?
Don't get me wrong people all have issues but part of me thinks bloody hell how do the people of the third world manage with all the s
t they have to deal with.
Is the mass increase in social media related as people see the successful things everyone else is doing but never the negative so they get upset about what they don't have?
Is there an underlying mass issue that is coming to the fore now or are people taking advantage of it in a way?
Don't get me wrong people all have issues but part of me thinks bloody hell how do the people of the third world manage with all the s
t they have to deal with.Is the mass increase in social media related as people see the successful things everyone else is doing but never the negative so they get upset about what they don't have?
I think it's mostly bullst, for most people.
Life is a struggle for all of us (well 99.99% of us), we have to survive and we are also very conscious of our own mortality and any illnesses, and that's before the more philosophic questions around why do we exist and religions that we are aware of.
I think in many cases in developing countries they are more connected with reality, or more busy surviving. They also have very strong family groups and strong religions, and often very clear paths in their lives. Many of those aspects have disappeared in the West and I certainly think that they are a big contributor to the apparent rise in mental illness.
But otherwise I think it's a combination of people becoming softer, being more educated (indoctrinated?) about mental illness and matching symptoms to themselves and elements of society imposing snowflake mentality. And maybe the doctors/drug companies pushing their wares.
I think there is now a huge grey area between what people think is depression/anxiety and what it actually should be.
t, for most people.Life is a struggle for all of us (well 99.99% of us), we have to survive and we are also very conscious of our own mortality and any illnesses, and that's before the more philosophic questions around why do we exist and religions that we are aware of.
I think in many cases in developing countries they are more connected with reality, or more busy surviving. They also have very strong family groups and strong religions, and often very clear paths in their lives. Many of those aspects have disappeared in the West and I certainly think that they are a big contributor to the apparent rise in mental illness.
But otherwise I think it's a combination of people becoming softer, being more educated (indoctrinated?) about mental illness and matching symptoms to themselves and elements of society imposing snowflake mentality. And maybe the doctors/drug companies pushing their wares.
I think there is now a huge grey area between what people think is depression/anxiety and what it actually should be.
Mental health and mental illness are two different things and I believe they have blurred into one.
We all have up and down days, it’s part of being human, totally natural.
My employer is quite big on it, but I think in general employers these days like to limit liability for instances that are genuine. But it seems every other day I’m getting an email about mental health.
We all have up and down days, it’s part of being human, totally natural.
My employer is quite big on it, but I think in general employers these days like to limit liability for instances that are genuine. But it seems every other day I’m getting an email about mental health.
BMR said:
Mental health and mental illness are two different things and I believe they have blurred into one.
We all have up and down days, it’s part of being human, totally natural.
This and the problem is caused by self diagnosis. Articles online like “are you depressed - 10 signs” and they look at them and say “I have six” when in reality they have one and then there are off to the doctor, get labelled and pills from the lazy health service and job done. We all have up and down days, it’s part of being human, totally natural.
I feel the same about the massive spike in autism and ADHD etc in kids. Parents spot one thing and all of sudden it’s not “little Johnny is a bit slow” it’s full on autism etc
Obviously for people really suffering from this stuff it’s horrendous and we should give all the support we can. As for the label hunters they should just be charged with wasting NHS time which should be an offence
Think for a lot of people they confuse having a bad day with depression. They confuse genuine anxiety with looking at instagram and feeling they can't hang around with friends because they have the latest gadget and they don't.
Instagram is the absolute devil at the heart of this problem. It's got to the point where genuine mental health problems are being heaped in with other issues and it's actually trivialising the issue.
Open any tabloid newspaper you read about all these reality stars and celebrities talking about the depression they had for a week and now it's all great.
Genuine depression I can tell you is not cured in a month. It's drags on and the symptoms become worse. At worst you feel like your completely detached from everyone else and nobody else understands. You can develop paranoid delusions and actually believe that everyone is out to get you. You believe that strangers are spying on you and people asking about your day are part of a big conspiracy against you. It's absolutely terrifying and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
With regards to ADHD and autism it seems like a hell of a lot of kids nowadays are on the spectrum. When I was in school there was one kid with it and he took a few tablets a day and he was normal. Now about half a class is on the spectrum.
I was talking to someone that works with autistic kids and she told me that some parents when told specifically by a specialist that their kid does not have any form of autism continue to push and argue with them. Some parents just don't understand that there is a difference between your child being autistic and being badly behaved because of poor parenting and a lack of discipline at home.
I see a lot of parents using 'my kid has autism' to get special treatment for themselves. I've seen one woman in a shop use it as an excuse for not having her receipt. Again it's disgusting to do that but it's the world we live in unfortunately and the only people it harms are those that are genuinely suffering.
Instagram is the absolute devil at the heart of this problem. It's got to the point where genuine mental health problems are being heaped in with other issues and it's actually trivialising the issue.
Open any tabloid newspaper you read about all these reality stars and celebrities talking about the depression they had for a week and now it's all great.
Genuine depression I can tell you is not cured in a month. It's drags on and the symptoms become worse. At worst you feel like your completely detached from everyone else and nobody else understands. You can develop paranoid delusions and actually believe that everyone is out to get you. You believe that strangers are spying on you and people asking about your day are part of a big conspiracy against you. It's absolutely terrifying and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
With regards to ADHD and autism it seems like a hell of a lot of kids nowadays are on the spectrum. When I was in school there was one kid with it and he took a few tablets a day and he was normal. Now about half a class is on the spectrum.
I was talking to someone that works with autistic kids and she told me that some parents when told specifically by a specialist that their kid does not have any form of autism continue to push and argue with them. Some parents just don't understand that there is a difference between your child being autistic and being badly behaved because of poor parenting and a lack of discipline at home.
I see a lot of parents using 'my kid has autism' to get special treatment for themselves. I've seen one woman in a shop use it as an excuse for not having her receipt. Again it's disgusting to do that but it's the world we live in unfortunately and the only people it harms are those that are genuinely suffering.
Edited by EarlofDrift on Monday 21st October 04:15
I think the struggles of a person in the third world are a bit different to those that we have. Obviously theirs are worse but I think in the UK we maybe have a lot more mental stresses in some ways.
I am not saying everyone is a genuine case but certainly does not surprise me that this modern world people are struggling mentally at time.
I am not saying everyone is a genuine case but certainly does not surprise me that this modern world people are struggling mentally at time.
I think it is genuinely on the up.
Most families have both partners working. You need it for the self fulfilling house prices. Great for GDP, st for family life. How do you cram the cooking, cleaning, shopping, washing, domestic chores, DIY, into two days. People don't have any downtime to recover, see their friends or activities they enjoy.
Jobs are more specialist and less secure. The Internet / world market / race to the bottom (i hate that phrase..) demands lower margins and more work pressure.
The brain hasn't had time to evolve at the same rate as the Western life pattern. The depression and anxiety symptoms are all based around traditional outdoors threats, which have no vent from an office desk.
We are also more open about it. From care in the community, to going for a break to the mountains or an aunt in the country.
Most families have both partners working. You need it for the self fulfilling house prices. Great for GDP, s
t for family life. How do you cram the cooking, cleaning, shopping, washing, domestic chores, DIY, into two days. People don't have any downtime to recover, see their friends or activities they enjoy.Jobs are more specialist and less secure. The Internet / world market / race to the bottom (i hate that phrase..) demands lower margins and more work pressure.
The brain hasn't had time to evolve at the same rate as the Western life pattern. The depression and anxiety symptoms are all based around traditional outdoors threats, which have no vent from an office desk.
We are also more open about it. From care in the community, to going for a break to the mountains or an aunt in the country.
CubanPete said:
I think it is genuinely on the up.
Most families have both partners working. You need it for the self fulfilling house prices. Great for GDP, st for family life. How do you cram the cooking, cleaning, shopping, washing, domestic chores, DIY, into two days. People don't have any downtime to recover, see their friends or activities they enjoy.
Jobs are more specialist and less secure. The Internet / world market / race to the bottom (i hate that phrase..) demands lower margins and more work pressure.
The brain hasn't had time to evolve at the same rate as the Western life pattern. The depression and anxiety symptoms are all based around traditional outdoors threats, which have no vent from an office desk.
We are also more open about it. From care in the community, to going for a break to the mountains or an aunt in the country.
Of course it is. I first heard this put forward by a comedian, but actually I think there's some truth in it...we're all faced with far too many choices these days: from the time we wake up to the time we finally get our heads down again, our lives are overly complicated by having too much choice. Couple that with peer pressure to keep up with, not only the Joneses in our street, but the Beckhams, Windsors and Kardashians on our screens, 90 different quick lunch choices in the tesco express, 7 or 8 different media streams pushing information at us, 24 hour rolling news, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Roku. NowTV, etc etc etc....no wonder your basic, not very emotionally intelligent, Western human is a bit overwrought. Those of us who can recognise the symptoms early and take stock, evaluate and refuse to get sucked in are lucky. The vast majority don't appear to have that capacity.Most families have both partners working. You need it for the self fulfilling house prices. Great for GDP, s
t for family life. How do you cram the cooking, cleaning, shopping, washing, domestic chores, DIY, into two days. People don't have any downtime to recover, see their friends or activities they enjoy.Jobs are more specialist and less secure. The Internet / world market / race to the bottom (i hate that phrase..) demands lower margins and more work pressure.
The brain hasn't had time to evolve at the same rate as the Western life pattern. The depression and anxiety symptoms are all based around traditional outdoors threats, which have no vent from an office desk.
We are also more open about it. From care in the community, to going for a break to the mountains or an aunt in the country.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I’m sure for some people it is a learned behaviour that enables them to get what they want, or to be treated differently. For some other people, it’s a very real and genuine struggle. You don’t know what these people you have brushed shoulders with have had to deal with in their private lives, or perhaps how they were brought up has left them emotionally deficient.
If people are getting depressed watching other people’s great lives through social media, I’d probably say that deserves a ‘man-up’ and get on with it, maybe some education about life and that being a normal person with a normal amount of money is absolutely fine, and compared to half of the rest of the world we’re all filthy rich.
I don't think there's one correct answer to this, as everyone has their own issues in their lives.
I do agree that the mental health stuff has been morphed into something it's not. It enables people to take the piss and have "mental health days" which generally constitute a massive hangover, or drug comedown from the weekend. They take the piss, and pull focus away from the more serious issues which drive people to suicide.
I do agree that the mental health stuff has been morphed into something it's not. It enables people to take the piss and have "mental health days" which generally constitute a massive hangover, or drug comedown from the weekend. They take the piss, and pull focus away from the more serious issues which drive people to suicide.
I hate to bring up Johann Hari as I'm not sure I agree with many of his theories. However, I was struck with the idea that anxiety and depression are a rational response to the modern Western lifestyle.
We're social animals designed by evolution to thrive in small close-knit groups, instead, we find ourselves completed isolated. Stuck in offices 50+ hours a week, conversing with people we don't really know via phone and email. When we're at home we barely know our neighbours, we sit ensconced in our little secure houses getting ready for the next installment of office-based isolation.
My Mrs has just started back at work after nearly a decade being a fulltime mum. One of the toughest things is dealing with the fact that her support network of close friends that she used to see every day during the day is now essentially gone.
We've got more money, but I am worried that our family is going to be a less happy family. Maybe I can cure that by getting a new car on a good PCP deal, or booking a holiday somewhere nice......
We're social animals designed by evolution to thrive in small close-knit groups, instead, we find ourselves completed isolated. Stuck in offices 50+ hours a week, conversing with people we don't really know via phone and email. When we're at home we barely know our neighbours, we sit ensconced in our little secure houses getting ready for the next installment of office-based isolation.
My Mrs has just started back at work after nearly a decade being a fulltime mum. One of the toughest things is dealing with the fact that her support network of close friends that she used to see every day during the day is now essentially gone.
We've got more money, but I am worried that our family is going to be a less happy family. Maybe I can cure that by getting a new car on a good PCP deal, or booking a holiday somewhere nice......
When people are so exhausted from super long commutes, emails in evenings and weekends, it is little surprise people either want to slob/drink or just spend time with family as they have little time for community. Although volunteering like parkrun is getting a lot of people out of the house and involved with each other, which is great, but not enough.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Seen the same in the village that I grew up in, no community anymore at all. My parents still live there and as the older generation die off I see them getting more and more isolated. Having said that, I'm still sat here at my desk and will be until 6pm this evening. I'll drive home, spend a couple of hours shouting at the kids to get to bed and then sit down and watch some rubbish on the telly whilst waiting to start work again.
There's a lot we can do as individuals but like a lot of health problems the pain of change feels greater than the pain of ill health. So we sit in our own little pans happily letting the water heat up.
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