To wonder Why some poorer Asian countries seem to have “better” mental health than richer European countries

You’re the one who has decided that all women in Pakistan are living in poverty. As an aside, how long did you/have you lived in Pakistan for?

Many people want what they're used to having and/or what they see those around them having.

In developing countries they end up on the streets , dependent on the charity of others or simply… die. Unless they are lucky enough to have extended family that will support them in some form or another. Those countries don’t exactly have stellar records when it comes to disabled people and their quality of life/survival rates. Why do you think mental health issues would be any different?

Reading comprehension failure there.

Wow such a sweeping statement. So all women in Pakistan are living in poverty having a mental health crisis.

This

Imo, There's a huge ENTITLEMENT in the UK these days.
People with low to mid level MH issues insisting they can't cope and cant do anything to help themselves. So many organizations nowadays supporting people in all kinds of ways (and for free), but everyone complains that it's not enough or nothing works.
That goes for benefit entitlement too - I have anxiety so cant work, too depressed to work etc blanket statements.
If you are genuinely NOT ABLE to work, then it wouldn't matter what country you live in. But somehow magically in the developing countries people have ten times the resilience and are "much more able" than someone with the same issues from the West.

Well I am sure there is an element of people being at a different stage in their lives but the people I know are from lots of different backgrounds and are at different stages in their lives. Some of the older people who come to live here still do part time work to keep afloat.

Lots of people who grew up here stay. They're tradespeople, teachers, traders on the local market. Lots of my neighbours fall into exactly that category and now live, have families and work here. They very definitely are in the local teams, clubs, scouts, pub teams, WI, swimming groups etc. The local football, cricket and rugby clubs are packed with local young people.

I'm in a litter picking group where the local DofE kids are really active, my climate group was started by a girl in the local sixth form.

There is community spirit galore here and not just from grey incomers if that's the point you're making.

A luck of understanding and diagnosis doesn't mean that these health conditions do not exist.

Chinese working culture is 996. 9am to 9pm 6 days a week. Leaving your kids with your parents 1000km away as you can't get them into a local school as your offical "home" is back with your parents. Mental health issues are rife, as is alcohol abuse.

Poverty is never kind to mental health and all the smiles tourist and businesses people see are part of the sales package.

I spent some time in Laos a few years ago. I was volunteering teaching English to youngsters and also doing some work wit teachers.

one lad I spoke to told me he had moved to the city (relative, it was a small town) because his family could only afford education for one of their seven kids and he was living in a room with his aunt and uncle and couldn’t afford to
buy food at the city centre markets so had to go out to the country ones to get food to eat.

his siblings were getting no education at all (no government schools near them and they couldn’t afford private)

he was expected to get a job after finishing education and the money would go to support his siblings and parents.

he’s under a lot of stress.

he wasn’t the only one by a long way.

If that were true none of the social movements of years gone by would ever have happened.

I find this so patronising they seem so much happier with nothing that so many westerners have this opinion when they travel to countries where you have large populations of very poor people

is a miserable tourist worker going to get tips ? Do you not think they have similar dreams to us? Do you think they can pop to a go to get a prescription for anti depressants

they don’t have the option to navel gaze while travelling the world thinking how hard their life is, Religion plays a large part on acceptance of life (while not necessarily making you happy)

and mh issues are just not recognised in the same way as they were not here for our grandparents and great grandparents and so on

This fetishising and romanticising of poverty (mostly from people that never experienced it , particularly in a country where no one gives a shit and if you die, you die) really pisses me off.

This.

Pretty much what the UK used to be like back a few generations.

This thread has so much ignorance in it my head hurts.

Do you have data or is this confirmation bias?

I think much of it is down to no other option, to be honest.
If they want to eat, they have to get out and work, shop and cook it. Nothing is given or brought to you. Even if you are extremely sad and bereft, anxious or depressed, you still have to get out of the house. Even in the house, you have others to think of. No way to hide under the covers.

People in underdeveloped countries aren't exactly happier, they have to work really hard to survive and support their families. I think that they are extremely conscious of their financial situation and know that they won't get government help if they allow themselves to get depressed and/or be out of work, so they keep pushing through. Someone with a medium level MH issue in a poor country goes unreported, where as someone from UK/AU/US would get government help and feels that they can be off work sick at least for sometime.

I just travelled to an underdeveloped country and they have to work 6 days a week, 9 hours a day for $200. This is not the minimum salary,it's the average salary of a clerk. Some groceries are very cheap but not as cheap for that salary, they have a very poor quality of life/ living costs.

Then why are all the success/feel good/role model stories about people who made “it”(often out of that country) rather than the little old lady living in her little hut with her little patch if land her whole life and still selling fruit on the side if the road at 80?

Nothing to do about being at a different stage in life or the fact that they had already amassed some wealth (pensions, property etc.) right?

Because I bet the people moving there didn’t live their whole lives in a council house , in NMW jobs and only have a state pension do they?

How many of the youngsters that grew up there stay? How many are stable, secure and happy? How many take full advantage of the social clubs and what not , or are they too busy working in the low paid , seasonal jobs?

Ime when I was a mental health nurse ,Asian families were very involved in their relatives care ,however they often didn't seek help untill it reached crisis point ,
I'm talking about people with severe and enduring mental illness.

Exactly what I thought when reading the title.

Yes same. I have never lived there but done lots of business in China and have loads of Chinese colleagues. Wealth acquisition is certainly important as far as I've seen.

Kuretake

I have a number of friends who’ve gone for the last five years two to three times a year to different Provences, living there for a week to three at a time so I hear a LOT about it! My husband also works with theee Chinese people and we all talk regularly (because of my friends). My WhatsApp rolll is full of pictures and videos!