Why is mental illness so much more common now than 50 years ago? The pressures of todays society?

Question

why was there no bipolar or schizophrenia 50 years ago......or not as much at least......pressure? hormones/additives in food? etc.

Answer 1

It only seems that way...
Mental illness has been around for as long as the human race has existed. There are historical accounts of many individuals displaying the symptoms of mental illnesses as they are defined today.

There may be an increased awareness of mental illness in the more recent past, due to the efforts of advocates to help decrease the stigma that has historically been associated with psychiatric illness.

Answer 2

Having worked in the field of MH for 30 years, I saw many changes. So 50 years ago those in the field of MH had much less information and diagnostic criteria to use.

In the past 30 years, not 50, a person who was gay no longer was considered mentally ill. The medical abilities to find genetic causes for various symptoms of mental illness were discovered, i.e., Prater Willie, Williams Syndrome, Bipolar, etc.

For generations, and in some cultures today, the family would deal directly with the issues of mental illness. Families would lock their "problem" in the attic or in the basement. More than 30 years ago people, especially women, could be placed in a mental hospital at the whim of the parent or the husband.

In the past 30 years new medications to treat the symptoms of mental illness have been honed. Today with the right supports, i.e. counseling or family, plus psychotropic medications people with a variety of mental illness symptoms can live productive and independent lives.

I don't think it is the additives in foods or the pressure of the work that make MH a common aliment. It is socieiy recognizing that people with a mental illness did not choose to have this disease, that the disease can be treated, and therefore people are more willing to discuss the problems. Today with electronic media and instant communication, information is readily and quickily available and thus people are more likely to recognize the symptoms of a mental illness and reach out to help the person rather than ignoring the problem, hoping it will go away, or locking up the person for the remainder of their life like a common criminal.

The statistics are that one person in four either has a family member or close friend with a mental illness.

Answer 3

1

Answer 4

I'm not entirely sure there is. #1.There are a LOT more people in the world today- than there was 50 years ago. So naturally there's going to be more of just about everything. #2. Mental illness was not talked about much in those days, it was often kept "in the family..." & out of sight. & #3. Most mental illnesses tended to be lumped into ONE "condition", & anyone who suffered from whatever that WAS- ended up in an asylum. -Where again, nobody heard anything about them. So I'm not so sure there's more mental illness around now than there used to be. Maybe there's just more awareness, openness, & understanding on the matter...

Answer 5

This might seem a little odd but I believe our society has fallen away from God and his laws. I'm not saying that it has caused all our problems but not obeying the main man's laws can cause some problems. It's a long argument that I'm not going to get in.

I know that I have mental disorders and it has been because of this society! I hate it! I want to puke every second! (I don't have an eatting disorder...FYI)

However, I have clinical depression and I know I wouldn't have it years ago. I also have social anxiety and agorophobia. it is hard to be with my friends. I can't even have a conversation with them.

There are many factors that I believe are the causes and I'm trying to fix them. It is a difficult struggle though and will not come easily. I have fallen away from many close friends and may cause me to lose the change to make other close friends, unless I get this straightened out in time.

I switched schools once and I want to go back because I realize that it wasn't my school that was the cause of my problems (although at the time, I thought it might be)

I know this doesn't help answer your question but I'm just giving my POV.

Answer 6

I'm sure there were many more people suffering from bi-polar disorders, schizophrenia, etc. 50 years ago, they just weren't diagnosed. Remember, not too many years back, any kind of mental disorder or emotional disorders carried a lot of stigma. People didn't understand mental illness. People with obvious problems were locked up in asylums, and the methods of treatment were, by today's standards barbaric. Electroshock therapy, water treatment. powerful drugs that incapacitated the patients, but didn't help, etc.
Also many forms of disorders were undiscovered in those days. Postpartum depression, depression, different types of schizophrenia,psychosis, chemical addiction,eating disorders, and on and on. New treatments, drugs and great steps in therapy occur all the time, not to mention greater public awareness of mental illnesses and the removal of social stigma makes people more willing to seek help in diagnosis and treatment.

Answer 7

No one knows the answer to this (assuming your facts are correct). Nutritional status has deteriorated dramatically over the last century and is well known in the scientific literature to be associated with most affect, mood, and behavioral brain disorders. Heavy metal toxicities (lead, mercury, arsenic, etc.) may also be involved; although, lead is definitely decreasing in the environment.

Additionally, there may be a role for the massive exposure to antibiotics (in food as well as commonly prescribed to everyone for 'everything') and the resulting bacterial imbalances in the gut. Also, food intolerances seem to becoming much more common and often 'connect' the gut to brain issues. The gut/brain connection is a rapidly evolving science that strongly suggests a role in these types of disorders.

Best wishes and good luck.

Answer 8

Open the books on the war crime trials of '46 to '48. It was sixty years ago that the world heard of the belief and practice of Eugenics . The German doctors charged with atrocities cited the American books on Eugenics where the disdain for the mentally ill and crippled babies was seen as hereditary evils of the human race. They were actually put to death in Germany by order of law before the second world war started . Fifty years ago the world was afraid of these ills and the doctors who managed them.

Answer 9

Fifty years ago, people were much less likely to report these kind of symptoms and doctors were probably misdiagnosing mental illnesses. Bipolar may have been written off as just being "moody". And schizophrenia was at one time considered to be satanic possession. I think that in today's society, we are much more aware of mental illness, therefore patients are less likely to feel "alone" or "odd" because they have certain symptoms.

Answer 10

Mental illness was as prevalent back then as now. The field of psychiatry was still developing and people were many times misdiagnosed and mistreated. If there is any indicator of an increase in mental disorders it would be the spread of drug companies as medicine has evolved, doctors today are too quick to diagnose and even quicker to sell more prescription drugs to people. Also, the betterment of medicinal fields has led to people suffering from disorders able to live relatively normal lives and reproduce spreading their genes.