To think the majority of people have mental health difficulties of some kind??

[manicinsomniac]

I fully accept that my experience may be coloured by the fact that I have been mentally ill for the last 20 years and therefore naturally know more people in the same boat than I would if I was healthy.

But it seems that the majority of my friends have a mental illness of one type or another. It's so common that I'm starting to wonder if this is the new norm for modern society (sounds tragic and dramatic but also worryingly possible?)

Quick breakdown for illustrative purposes:
Friends I still know from school: 2 out of 5
Friends I still know from university: 8 out of 13
Friends from work: 4 out of 7
Friends from church: 7 out of 12
Friends from hobbies: 8 out of 11
Friends from hospitals/units/therapy groups: 8 out of 9 (1 recovered)

The last group is to be expected of course but the others ... am I just a magnet for similar personality types perhaps??
Or are we a really, really ill country?

We see people who are sad all the time. I have no idea why they come to see the Dr

I went because of heavy bleeding and exhaustion, and was still handed a prescription for anti depressants that I did not need.

Thanks, MintyChoc - I guess that does explain why so many people have been or are taking medication.

My mum swears blind that some medicine (which I do remember tasting really good) I had as a child for persistent, unexplained made up so I didn't have to go to school stomach aches was just sugar water. I'll have to tell her (27 years too late!) that that cannot be the case!

I've only been a doctor for 26 years, so I wouldn't swear that dodgy GPs didn't issue sugar water before then. But I'd be very surprised.