Is mental illness more prevalent now?

[DismayedAnnoyed]

I read a poster on another thread saying: Mental illness is so prevalent now that there aren’t the resources around to treat people

I am wondering, do people think this is true? Or just people are more aware?

There was no self-harm, cutting, anorexia, school refusal, and so on, or if there was it was very rare.

Or you didn't know about it ? I can assure you it still went on.

I was self harming in the 80's and I wasn't alone.
GP was horrible about it though.

Growing up mental health help was for "crazy people"- those in some kind of institution or bored housewives with nothing better to do.
Kids had nothing to be depressed or anxious about because they had no mortgage,bills,jobs.
Hard working people were too busy to fuss over such nonsense.
Someone i knew hanged herself at 16 and the grownups around us were more willing to believe she had been cursed/under a spell than take a long hard look at themselves.
Suicide attempts got you in a hospital,restrained with nurses giving you a lecture about being stupid,another stern talking to by the police and gossip.

So I did what I had to do...I coped (alcohol,attention seeking,sex,self harm,rage ). Ofc that meant I was an awful,irresponsible,reckless daughter/human being ...but I fucking coped.

Some people don't seem to be able to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and carry on. They seem to need approval/affirmation for every life decision to be made. I do tend to look around sometimes and wonder with an endemic ""flakey" attitude how we ever managed through the blitz. If it happened today there would have been self help groups, online counselling and a hand full of antidepressants dolled out, washed down with a chilled prosecco.

There doesn't seem to be the same resilience today. I think dignity is on the back burner. Whether the break down of the traditional nuclear family is to blame, or social media, I don't know. But I see some of the shenanigans played out on this forum (and on the likes of Jeremy Kyle) and just think 'get some fucking dignity. It makes me grimace, the need to play every minutia of life out for attention.

RebelRogue no need for your snippy, snotty response. I was just saying I did think it did exist as many people don't.

I am also thinking ...

1. Lots more things around to "trigger" or worsen mental health issues ... drugs being one of course as someone has mentioned.

1. That there is a much "narrower" definition of what is seen as "good mental health" e.g. you have to be positive, balanced at all times politically correct etc etc. In reality, as an earlier poster said, most people have ups and downs in life and sometimes experience strong emotions, sadness, etc. Perhaps these have been over-"medicalised".

It is more recognised by GPs and others.imo.
the stats are 1 in 4 have depression now
in the past these conditions would have had different titles. or people given different advice.
medical research advances

Ahhh yes the stiff upper lip,dignified traditional family...where abuse was ignored,children were ignored,parents took it out on their kids and everything was brushed under the carpet in case the neighbours found out. The reputation of the stiff upper lip ,dignified traditional family was to be protected at all costs.... and now people moan there are too many "broken" adults.

No, it's not more prevalent. It's more diagnosed and far more medicated.
But that doesn't mean it's on the rise. it used to be both more hidden behind closed doors, or more written off as personality - lazy or angry rather than in desperate need of help.

Both my parents had depression during my childhood - my father excessively so for years. Neither was treated. We just put up with the mad crying, suicide threats, irrational fury, crazy rules, utter neglect.
I also have severe long term depression. I take pills. DC have a very placid, steady happy childhood.

NewYear

Breathtaking ignorance.

Looking at my parents and grandparents and their friends over the years, and hearing about the parents and grandparents of my close friends... I would estimate that mental health issues are not more common these days. They're just better recognised and acknowledged.

50, 60, 70 years ago there were people behaving in a clearly disturbed manner who were just pegged as 'going through a rough patch.'

I said it was more rare NewYear.

Its just NewYears opinion, she's entitled to have it Sassy.

That's quite a spectacularly ignorant post, NewYearNewMe18.

I don't see whats so offensive about it. You can't have a real discussion if you only hear what you want to hear.

I disagree, I think Newyear is right

I dunno, I've self harmed since I was 13, so 15 years now. Everyone still thinks I'm a nutter for it, just as they did then; there's still not really any help for it either.

There might be more awareness, but that doesn't translate into to more support or understanding. I recently went through evaluation because I'd been suffering delusions and mild hallucinations. Along with persistent suicidal thoughts, tertifying mood swings and the pre existing self harm. None of this was considered enough to warrant any help of any kind though... I think I'd have preferred to be ignored entirely, than go through all that, the subsequent social services involvement and ultimately be told well, that all sounds shit for you, but we're not doing anything.

Mother and father were mental health nurses. Mother was severely depressed and sectioned on and off through a lot of my childhood. I tried to take my life when I was younger and luckily it didn't work. I had a complete breakdown and was very mentally unwell with depression for a year. What I'm saying is that I'm very well versed in mental health, about as well versed as a non-professional could be.

In my humble opinion, I don't think mental illness is any more prevalent than it's ever been. I think:

1. We have more tools to "expose" our lives nowadays, ie. social media, so everything is spoken about and open to others in a way that wasn't possible even 15 years ago.
2. People are feeling more comfortable about discussing their struggles
3. People misuse mental health conditions to describe what are very normal, situational and momentary feelings. So, while someone 20 years ago might have said they were feeling really down after a break up, now someone is "feeling really depressed". Or, when someone is nervous before a job interview, their "anxiety is acting up". I'm obviously not saying that all people who say things like this don't have an underlying diagnosed mental health condition but I do think the lines have become severely blurred between very normal emotions (not all of which are rainbows and unicorns) and actually having a condition.

That's just my tuppence worth.

I dont really get what point your trying to make OP?

@Herja
Hope things do improve for you.

Lifestyle and the way people live has changed and this has impacted on people's mental health imo. Alcohol/drug abuse & binges / having bigger & better than the jones' attitude and a lack of ability to cope with every day emotions and behaviours. Social media and modern technology has added to the problem and having every aspect of life publicly on display which people ineviatably compare their lives with other people's.There is also a view by some that they have life harder than older generations and wanting to be and have 'better' or what they perceive to be 'better' than their parents/family & friends.

These things did happen when you were at school, @DismayedAnnoyed you just didn't know about it. I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, I was abused at home and bullied at school but I was dismissed as a child who was attention seeking and too emotional.

upside its pretty clear. i know yours is meant to be a passive aggressive dig but i shall be the bigger person and ignore.

I thought this was an important question and I am genuinely interested in people's thoughts. It would be such a shame if it became a bun fight of people "taking offence" every other post.

Most people just had to get on with it. There was no back up money or only in very serious cases was there medical intervention and it sometimes did more harm than good.

Well job insecurity and unemployment both increase the risk of mental illness and we now have a lot of job insecurity and under employment and worry of losing whatever crappy job you have and becoming one of the 'scroungers'.

I think in some cases as well people aren't as willing to put up with symptoms and know that there is treatment available. I've suffered from anxiety on and off for most of my life. While I've been treated for depression in the past I didn't get help for the anxiety until two years ago. For me it was partly because I'd experienced what it was like not to be anxious while pregnant and was amazed and partly because health problems and some other stuff was increasing the anxiety and with a small child I didn't have the time to try and cope with it myself. Thirty or forty years ago I probably would have struggled on not knowing what options there were.

I agree that real mental illness is probably no more prevalent and its good that there's more help and less stigma. But I also agree with those who say there seem to be a lot of bandwagon-jumpers/snowflakes who make hard work out if life.
It seems to be a get out of jail free card sometimes. I've seen my friends husband claim to be depressed - wouldn't do anything round the house, ignored her and the kids. She pandered to him, tried to get him help because she thought he was "ill". But then he left, and once he was shagging around and partying like a single bloke he was suddenly not the least bit depressed. He was just bored with family life.

I get anxious about things. Sometimes to the extent I will vomit/get diarrhoea and a racing heart when I'm worrying about something. But I wouldn't say I "suffer from anxiety" as a condition. I'm just a natural born worried and its part of my personality.