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?

My sister had OCD in the 80's when she was 10 before it became fashionable ( I'm aware my choice of words are inflammatory but it's true frankly ) . Living with a sibling with ocd was a living hell . She relied on me so much and it was awful . Anyways my point is she was diagnosed with it and depression very early on so I've grown up around it therefore it's fairly normal for me . I worry my dd is very similar to her aunt but hope it's just usual teenage angst . 🙏🏻🙏🏻

OP you took my question which came from interest not agression with uneeded offence which along with the people who are actually giving you passive agressive digs is a shame. You question and this topic is interesting and important, all I asked was for you to explain where you were comming from with your question, so I could word my repsonse which I had thought would be YANBU and me agreeing with you but I wasnt sure so I asked for more infomation, I dont undertsand why that is wrong? If you planned not to answer questions and explain your veiw then you shouldnt of opened up the discussion, you should also of expected that people would maybe not agree with you but the discussion could still go on.

I think shell shock is genuinely PTSD. It needs proper funding and skilled treatment.
Those who ‘think’ they have PTSD because if some sort of (admittedly shit) event in their life are diminishing the reality of the diagnosis in veterans and the like.

@Fortybingowings out of interest, what situations do you and don't you think it's appropriate to have PTSD after?

There is more awareness which has led to an increase in cases, but I think many of those who believe they have MH see it as a label which is a way out. It is to easy to use MH as a reason not to be self reliant. Sometimes it is necessary show reliance

I think that's the problem with all armchair diagnoses though @Fortybingowings ?

I think it is more talked about and there is less stigma attached, although lots more work needs to be done.
Some people are also keen to use a mental health diagnoses to not take responsibility for their actions, and this can lead to allots of self diagnosis.
Mental health services get bad press but people expectations of what they can do are unrealistic. People are responsible for helping themselves, as much as the professionals.

These threads always go the same way - minimising, patronising, condescending, victim-blaming, shaming bollocks.

SA survivors and a lot of rape victims suffer from PTSD, @Fortybingowings SA survivors often suffer from complex PTSD. I do. For a long time I refused to consider it because I wasn't a forces veteran or a refugee.

NewYear

Fucking hell, what a tool. If you have children, I hope they’re never hit with any mental health problems because clearly they would get sick all support from you.

Sick = fuck

I know it's crossed my mind more than once about the number of times I've seen the term PND discussed here. It genuinely surprises me. I had my children 30 years ago. My first pregnancy and the birth of my very sick child were horrendously traumatic. I didn't know I would be allowed to be depressed, honestly though looking back I'm sure I was.
While nursing on an acute Psychiatric ward as a student nurse where there were mother and baby admission I saw a few mothers admitted with puerperal psychosis. I never hear that term any more but I hear lots and lots of PND particularly on here. Why are so many women being diagnosed? This is honestly asked genuinely and not to be goady

Nowadays, it's cool to be a victim. You get much more attention as such than by showing to be resilient. Not only is it not helping society, but it's taken away attention and funding to those who genuinely do suffer from severe MH issues.

Yeah, it's so fucking great to have a mental illness. People never patronise you, never infer that your illness doesn't exist, never come out with bollocks like "have you tried going for a walk/yoga/sacrificing a virgin/etc.."

I'd like someone to explain what a "genuine" mental illness is and how you differentiate between ones that are and [supposedly] aren't.

What’s the usefulness of a diagnostic label of PTSD following a traumatic event if there is no funded and timely treatment for it anyway?
It concerns me that plenty are willing to state “look at me, I have a condition it’s PTSD” All the while, taking the opportunity to absolve themselves of personal responsibility to put their lives back on track

@namechange2222 I can see you're not being goady don't worry

I think there are several reasons but, primarily, I think there are three significant ones:

1. More people live far away from their families nowadays in another city or country. That support network isn't there.
2. Depending on the industry they work in, the fathers are sometimes in jobs where they're in the office from 7am until 10pm because there's no turning your laptop off in certain roles anymore (not saying this is right). This is obviously a hell of a lot of pressure on a new mum.
3. I think social media has a lot to answer for. There are so many picture perfect mums who obviously only post the good parts of their lives and so, for women who perhaps don't have as much confidence, when they have a baby and see the reality is very different, things fall apart. Also, I truly believe it leads to women who would never previously have chosen to have children to feel like it's something they "should" do.

Those who ‘think’ they have PTSD because if some sort of (admittedly shit) event in their life are diminishing the reality of the diagnosis in veterans and the like

So suffering from domestic abuse, witnessing a suicide or living in a war torn country (among other events), don't cause PTSD?

It's only veterans who can suffer?

namechange puerpal psychosis is now postpartum psychosis just as bipolar disorder used to be manic depression its the same illness just termed differently .

@NotACleverName let's not forget pulling yourself by the bootstraps and being dignified.

ICD10 and DSMV don’t restrict it to veterans no.
I do however question the value of having the diagnosis if there’s no effective locally funded treatments. Medications don’t seem to help much either. Even more so if one allows the diagnosis to define you and reduce your chances of getting on with life.

@Fortybingowings because a lot of PTSD sufferers think they are going crazy,they are hallucinating,losing it etc with no idea why. With no idea why seeing,smelling,hearing something transports them at the time of the trauma and they are relieving it. Because sometimes they have no idea what is real or not and that's a fucking scary place to be in. Having an official diagnosis gives them a reason why,they can understand and possibly accept it,they can read about it and inform themselves,they can explore their triggers and sometimes they can actually get help for it,they can learn to live with it.

Colleagues in social housing commented to me last week that mental health issues in tenants is rocketing - very severe in many cases (psychosis, schizophrenia, personality disorders) - making tenancies very difficult to maintain, increasing concerns around anti social behaviour etc etc. Where we are some of it can be attributed to new drugs - spice, black mamba. I think as a population we’re quite emotionally unwell!

Maybe if people were allowed to acknowledge and express their emotions publicly instead of supressing them, then people would find it easier to process difficult life events?

Just a suggestion. I know men are pressured to act 'manly' and women encouraged to talk through feelings, but even now I think women are doing this less nowadays.

Mental illness is definitely more prevalent now. This is common sense, because the population is greater now. If 10% of people get a certain condition, it follows that the more people there are, the more sufferers there will be.

It is true though that a lot of mental illness that is recognised and diagnosed today would not have been so in the past. So yes, it seems that there is more mental illness about, because in the past people would have just been told to pull themselves together, or some other heartless bullshit.

We are also more aware of mental illness. People who would have kept quiet in the past are more willing to seek help, and willing to talk about it. As the stigma reduces people are willing to tell others about their struggles when in the past they'd only confide in close friends, if at all.

Ginger you are right. Drugs (especially weed) are a huge issue in this