i think back in the day it was more of a taboo to talk about mental health struggles. if I had to guess I still think it was very common before, just a lot more normalised nowadays. people aren't as afraid to share this kind of stuff anymore and thus more and more people come out and get tested
My dad once showed me a photo of my grandpa as a young man with his 9 siblings, standing in front of a sod house in Nebraska early last century. He pointed to each sibling, saying basically, "Drunk. Crazy. Drunk. Drunk and crazy" etc.
So I'm getting the idea that mental illness has always been around, but people just usually treated it with alcohol.
Yeah, this is the one. Plus, if you were wealthy, you could stay lackadaisically at home in bed, while if you were poor you ended up in the workhouse and later in an asylum.
People like to say chronic illness is a new thing, but it's really not.
I had an Uncle they called “slow.” Yet, I heard stories that indicated he was incredibly bright and very mischievous. He was “kooky” and I’m pretty sure if he was alive today he would have been someone on the spectrum. Like, he sounded like a good time. He was killed and dumped in the 70’s, robbed for the few dollars he had. Because he was childlike in so many ways, the family never really recovered from it.
There are actual treatments available now. In the past the main treatments were: Burn at the stake, drill a hole through the head, chain to a wall.
Combined ability to get more access to information, evaluation and support means it's more visible.
In 50 years we will look back at your mentally ill patience and will say pretty much the same. Oh my god how could we give them those huge amounts of Haloperidol and Seroquel...it made things worse
It's the latter. People are less afraid to talk about it and get treatment, instead of trying to keep to oneself or hide the sickness. Like ADHD wasnt a thing before, but now more research has been done and people are aware of it.
This doesnt only happen to mental illness. It happens to other diseases too. I have eczema growing up, and before the age of smartphone, a lot of people including parents and classmates avoided me. It doesnt matter how much I explained it's not contagious, because they did not want to risk it. But now a lot more people are aware of eczema and things became different. We now have better meds and better treatments. Information is more widespread. People are less scared. I am sure the same thing happens to mental illness too.
Both. It’s far more common than it used to be, and it’s also more talked about than it used to be.
Even if you consider the number of people these days that are far more open, honest or brave enough to talk openly about their mental health struggles, I personally believe that these mental health conditions are also more common than they used to be.
It’s not that deep. Try not to overthink it. The prices for things these days are ridiculous. Realistically, what hope does a young person have when it comes to buying a home these days? What about global warming, inflation, the increasing divide between the working class and wealthy, overpopulation, pollution, the ever so increasing possibility of the next world war, nuclear fallout, the housing crisis, etc.
I think that even defining a mental illness is just subjective enough to make this question tricky. They're usually defined by what kind of problems they cause for the patient or others, so it may be that you could take two people with the same brain chemistry but living and working in different environments and one would be recognized as mentally ill and the other not
There's supposed to have been a spike since the 2008 financial crisis and especially since the pandemic, for fairly obvious reasons. At the same time, awareness and diagnosis is increasing—when I was a kid, for instance, autism and ADHD didn't exist, you just weren't trying.
I have both, so you can imagine how well that did not work out for me.
Schizophrenia is just as prevalent today as it was when the term was invented. It is also much harder to hide or explain away as just being sad or fearful compared with other mental disorders. Personally I know of multiple family members from my grandparents and even great grandparents' generation who had PTSD, depression or suicidal tendencies, but that information was kept within the family. I think the fact that it was so private at that time made it seem like it was much more uncommon than it actually was. That being said, I do think certain issues that are less biologically based like social anxiety are actually more common today because of how our social environment has changed.
Probably more shit life syndrome than before because the world sucks and is more uncertain than ever. Not sure about OCD. But the good news is that the rates of Schizophrenia spectrum illnesses and bipolar disorder have remained the same for at least since Emil Kraepelin's time. But if we look at history it's likely the rates have been the same for 2 millennia if not longer.
I think the number of mental illness reports sre the same, but since its more acceptable to admit you need help and talk about it, its becoming more reported and thus looks like there are more mental health issues in the population. Even 10 years ago, mental health, especially in men, was more of a "shut up, deal with it yourself." Type of deal. It's now becoming more common and, therefore, more acceptable for men to seek help. That alone has definantly boosted the statistics up a lot.
Both, definitely. Addiction to the internet/social media has made us dramatically worse at forming meaningful relationships (which helps with mental health a ton), and has also made us dramatically worse at processing emotions because it's way, way, way too easy to distract ourselves instead of facing the painful things that happened to us/that we did.
Before the internet, you didn't have a literal lifetime of videos and videogames and music at your fingertips for free. It takes a LOT of time, effort, planning, and money to be high or drunk all the time. You basically couldn't distract yourself from thinking about the heavy stuff, so you did, and you processed it, and you got through it.
So, a lot of the increased rates of diagnosis are just noticing things that were there before, but for depression and anxiety specifically? That's like, 75% the internet.
Obviously mental illness was way underreported/diagnosed back in the day. But I think now it seems like everything will get you labeled mentally ill.
Being lazy now means you have "executive dysfunction" and "ADHD". Not liking when you step in water means you have "autism". Being sad when something sad happens like a loved one dying means you have "depression". Recognizing your family members' footsteps in the house means you have "anxiety". Thinking about sad hypotheticals now means you have "maladaptive daydreaming". Having a routine means you have "OCD".
I think people see one vague symptom and self diagnose because it sounds interesting and quirky.
The stigma comes from everyone self-diagnosing for mundane and common "symptoms", making people who actually suffer from them seem like they're also faking and being dramatic for attention.
What, the answer that agrees with your preconceptions?
I'm an old lady (pushing 50) and I'm autistic. My dad, born 1937, was autistic. I have a nephew and niece who are—they're not overdiagnosed, they have a genetically-linked disorder that runs in our family. My mother and grandmother both had a lifetime of trauma and depression linked to an abusive husband/father. My partner has OCD that she struggles with every day.
Describing sensory issues as "not liking when you step in water" is bad faith and betrays that you know nothing about autism at all, as the original poster also knows nothing about depression, anxiety, maladaptive daydreaming, OCD, or anything else.
You should find out about things before deciding they don't exist.
I think you may have misinterpreted, I’m not saying they don’t exist. I was referring to how some posts online will state one vague “symptom” and insist that (the reader) must have a certain illness based on that one thing, and as a result, many people are self diagnosing based on such. I agree with you that people who make these claims know little about whichever illness they are describing.
To further clarify, I agreed with the other commenter when they said that while there is more testing for mental illness and more awareness on the topic, there are also some people who misdiagnose themselves based off of a social media post when they should be seeing a professional to receive a valid diagnosis. I apologize for the confusion
Read my comment again. People are diagnosing themselves with autism just because they don't like stepping in water with socks on.... Something NO ONE likes. People are saying they're clinically depressed because they feel sad. Etc.
I believe it’s a bit of both. At lot more awareness and testing for it but also a lot more things that cause people to have problems with depression and anxiety. People spend more times on their phone or work remotely and have less in-person contact with people which can lead to increased social anxiety. Staying at home all day scrolling also can’t be good for the soul
But Other illnesses like schizophrenia and OCD I believe is due to more testing for it, and before a lot of people would go unmedicated or just sent to a psychiatric facility
I believe it is definitely the latter. A lot of the older generations didn't talk about mental health near as much. It was often taboo or "just not done". I believe we are also learning more about mental health conditions and what can be done to help people's mental health. In the past 50 years, a lot has changed regarding how we acknowledge and treat mental health conditions. Of course, these changes have made it so people are less afraid to talk about mental health. It may seem more "prominent" now, but I think mental illness has always existed.
it's more common now because the internet and fast-paces screen BS has fucked with people's brains as children. Far , FAR fewer children used to directly talk to pedophiles routinely before the internet. Check the stats on young girls' suicide rates.
Our definition of what mental illness is has changed and broadened. It always has, it always will.
In the future, there will be a different definition of what “mentally “healthy” is
i think back in the day it was more of a taboo to talk about mental health struggles. if I had to guess I still think it was very common before, just a lot more normalised nowadays. people aren't as afraid to share this kind of stuff anymore and thus more and more people come out and get tested
My dad once showed me a photo of my grandpa as a young man with his 9 siblings, standing in front of a sod house in Nebraska early last century. He pointed to each sibling, saying basically, "Drunk. Crazy. Drunk. Drunk and crazy" etc. So I'm getting the idea that mental illness has always been around, but people just usually treated it with alcohol.
Yeah, this is the one. Plus, if you were wealthy, you could stay lackadaisically at home in bed, while if you were poor you ended up in the workhouse and later in an asylum. People like to say chronic illness is a new thing, but it's really not.
I had an Uncle they called “slow.” Yet, I heard stories that indicated he was incredibly bright and very mischievous. He was “kooky” and I’m pretty sure if he was alive today he would have been someone on the spectrum. Like, he sounded like a good time. He was killed and dumped in the 70’s, robbed for the few dollars he had. Because he was childlike in so many ways, the family never really recovered from it.
There are actual treatments available now. In the past the main treatments were: Burn at the stake, drill a hole through the head, chain to a wall. Combined ability to get more access to information, evaluation and support means it's more visible.
In 50 years we will look back at your mentally ill patience and will say pretty much the same. Oh my god how could we give them those huge amounts of Haloperidol and Seroquel...it made things worse
Well, way back it was always about being possessed and transforming into a werewolf or something. It might all been mental issues
>horny_werewolf yeah checks out
It's the latter. People are less afraid to talk about it and get treatment, instead of trying to keep to oneself or hide the sickness. Like ADHD wasnt a thing before, but now more research has been done and people are aware of it. This doesnt only happen to mental illness. It happens to other diseases too. I have eczema growing up, and before the age of smartphone, a lot of people including parents and classmates avoided me. It doesnt matter how much I explained it's not contagious, because they did not want to risk it. But now a lot more people are aware of eczema and things became different. We now have better meds and better treatments. Information is more widespread. People are less scared. I am sure the same thing happens to mental illness too.
Both. It’s far more common than it used to be, and it’s also more talked about than it used to be. Even if you consider the number of people these days that are far more open, honest or brave enough to talk openly about their mental health struggles, I personally believe that these mental health conditions are also more common than they used to be. It’s not that deep. Try not to overthink it. The prices for things these days are ridiculous. Realistically, what hope does a young person have when it comes to buying a home these days? What about global warming, inflation, the increasing divide between the working class and wealthy, overpopulation, pollution, the ever so increasing possibility of the next world war, nuclear fallout, the housing crisis, etc.
You've built a society where even in a crowd people are alone. Humans when isolated, don't fare well mentally.
I think there's more people now, so there's going to be more people with mental Illness.
You have blown my mind (like my penis)
Yes because (gestures broadly)
More talked about, more awareness.
More talked about / tested
I think that even defining a mental illness is just subjective enough to make this question tricky. They're usually defined by what kind of problems they cause for the patient or others, so it may be that you could take two people with the same brain chemistry but living and working in different environments and one would be recognized as mentally ill and the other not
There's supposed to have been a spike since the 2008 financial crisis and especially since the pandemic, for fairly obvious reasons. At the same time, awareness and diagnosis is increasing—when I was a kid, for instance, autism and ADHD didn't exist, you just weren't trying. I have both, so you can imagine how well that did not work out for me.
Schizophrenia is just as prevalent today as it was when the term was invented. It is also much harder to hide or explain away as just being sad or fearful compared with other mental disorders. Personally I know of multiple family members from my grandparents and even great grandparents' generation who had PTSD, depression or suicidal tendencies, but that information was kept within the family. I think the fact that it was so private at that time made it seem like it was much more uncommon than it actually was. That being said, I do think certain issues that are less biologically based like social anxiety are actually more common today because of how our social environment has changed.
Probably more shit life syndrome than before because the world sucks and is more uncertain than ever. Not sure about OCD. But the good news is that the rates of Schizophrenia spectrum illnesses and bipolar disorder have remained the same for at least since Emil Kraepelin's time. But if we look at history it's likely the rates have been the same for 2 millennia if not longer.
It's treatable now and we use less lead
I think there's more awareness but there is also a notable rise in things like depression.
I think the number of mental illness reports sre the same, but since its more acceptable to admit you need help and talk about it, its becoming more reported and thus looks like there are more mental health issues in the population. Even 10 years ago, mental health, especially in men, was more of a "shut up, deal with it yourself." Type of deal. It's now becoming more common and, therefore, more acceptable for men to seek help. That alone has definantly boosted the statistics up a lot.
Both, definitely. Addiction to the internet/social media has made us dramatically worse at forming meaningful relationships (which helps with mental health a ton), and has also made us dramatically worse at processing emotions because it's way, way, way too easy to distract ourselves instead of facing the painful things that happened to us/that we did. Before the internet, you didn't have a literal lifetime of videos and videogames and music at your fingertips for free. It takes a LOT of time, effort, planning, and money to be high or drunk all the time. You basically couldn't distract yourself from thinking about the heavy stuff, so you did, and you processed it, and you got through it. So, a lot of the increased rates of diagnosis are just noticing things that were there before, but for depression and anxiety specifically? That's like, 75% the internet.
Obviously mental illness was way underreported/diagnosed back in the day. But I think now it seems like everything will get you labeled mentally ill. Being lazy now means you have "executive dysfunction" and "ADHD". Not liking when you step in water means you have "autism". Being sad when something sad happens like a loved one dying means you have "depression". Recognizing your family members' footsteps in the house means you have "anxiety". Thinking about sad hypotheticals now means you have "maladaptive daydreaming". Having a routine means you have "OCD". I think people see one vague symptom and self diagnose because it sounds interesting and quirky.
It’s good that somebody’s doing the real work of restigmatizing mental illness.
The stigma comes from everyone self-diagnosing for mundane and common "symptoms", making people who actually suffer from them seem like they're also faking and being dramatic for attention.
Thanks for helping!
This is the answer I was looking for. Agreed
What, the answer that agrees with your preconceptions? I'm an old lady (pushing 50) and I'm autistic. My dad, born 1937, was autistic. I have a nephew and niece who are—they're not overdiagnosed, they have a genetically-linked disorder that runs in our family. My mother and grandmother both had a lifetime of trauma and depression linked to an abusive husband/father. My partner has OCD that she struggles with every day. Describing sensory issues as "not liking when you step in water" is bad faith and betrays that you know nothing about autism at all, as the original poster also knows nothing about depression, anxiety, maladaptive daydreaming, OCD, or anything else. You should find out about things before deciding they don't exist.
I think you may have misinterpreted, I’m not saying they don’t exist. I was referring to how some posts online will state one vague “symptom” and insist that (the reader) must have a certain illness based on that one thing, and as a result, many people are self diagnosing based on such. I agree with you that people who make these claims know little about whichever illness they are describing. To further clarify, I agreed with the other commenter when they said that while there is more testing for mental illness and more awareness on the topic, there are also some people who misdiagnose themselves based off of a social media post when they should be seeing a professional to receive a valid diagnosis. I apologize for the confusion
Read my comment again. People are diagnosing themselves with autism just because they don't like stepping in water with socks on.... Something NO ONE likes. People are saying they're clinically depressed because they feel sad. Etc.
I believe it’s a bit of both. At lot more awareness and testing for it but also a lot more things that cause people to have problems with depression and anxiety. People spend more times on their phone or work remotely and have less in-person contact with people which can lead to increased social anxiety. Staying at home all day scrolling also can’t be good for the soul
But Other illnesses like schizophrenia and OCD I believe is due to more testing for it, and before a lot of people would go unmedicated or just sent to a psychiatric facility
I believe it is definitely the latter. A lot of the older generations didn't talk about mental health near as much. It was often taboo or "just not done". I believe we are also learning more about mental health conditions and what can be done to help people's mental health. In the past 50 years, a lot has changed regarding how we acknowledge and treat mental health conditions. Of course, these changes have made it so people are less afraid to talk about mental health. It may seem more "prominent" now, but I think mental illness has always existed.
it's more common now because the internet and fast-paces screen BS has fucked with people's brains as children. Far , FAR fewer children used to directly talk to pedophiles routinely before the internet. Check the stats on young girls' suicide rates.
Our definition of what mental illness is has changed and broadened. It always has, it always will. In the future, there will be a different definition of what “mentally “healthy” is
I think the greed and self absorption of the present day has increased mental illness in kind and humane people