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I'd rather be unhappy - and riddled with anxieties - in the West than "happy" (i.e. sun-addled and unburdened by the project of the self) in Fiji, or some culture-free equatorial "paradise".
But - yes - the insidious power of the psychopharmacology cabal has convinced far too many people that they are hopelessly afflicted with depression and anxiety, and thus need to be recalibrated in the image of some phantom "normal" or "healthy" self.
I'd rather be unhappy - and riddled with anxieties - in the West than "happy" (i.e. sun-addled and unburdened by the project of the self) in Fiji, or some culture-free equatorial "paradise".
It's not easy to decide unless you experienced the Fiji version of happiness. "Riddled with anxieties" sounds like one's emotional health is not up to par. If that's the case and it were me, I guess I'd prefer Fiji happiness.
People just lack many of the healthy coping mechanisms that maybe people had in times past.
^^^^ this. Modern communications has both brought us together but has paradoxically separated us too.
For an example visit any restaurant and observe somebody FB'ing instead of living in the moment, whether with friends or alone.
When did FB become more than RL???
I still remember a time at my favorite Thai restaurant where 3 youths were dining together, except each of them was either talking on their cell, texting or FB'ing. During an hour I never once saw them doing anything except eating the same food in the same space, none of them interacting between their party, but each of them on their solo e-journeys separately. So sad.
Having been through anxiety I can say it's due to incorrect thinking and resistance to what is. Resisting emotions, trying too hard to feel "good" rather than just rolling with the punches and letting the emotions (and the experiences in life) come as they will. Resisting "what is" causes stress and drains your energy from having all these self protective barriers you have in place to try to "shield" yourself from being hurt. It's hard to explain... it's something you have to experience. There's a lot of paradoxes and counter-intuitive things you need to do for self improvement. I'm still working at it, but have more peace of mind than at any point in my life to this point. I've kind of lost interest in a lot of the things neurotic people are interested in, like politics, lol. This video is a great start...
“The neurotic individual is in conflict with himself. Part of his being is trying to overcome another part. His ego is trying to master his body; his rational mind, to control his feelings; his will, to overcome his fears and anxieties. Though this conflict is in large part unconscious, its effect is to deplete the person’s energy and to destroy his peace of mind. Neurosis is internal conflict. The neurotic character takes many forms, but all of them involve a struggle in the individual between what he is and what he believes he should be. Every neurotic individual is caught in this struggle.”
A lot of people on forums like GLP look at people and call them "sheep" for just going out there and living life, enjoying themselves, and not being all concerned about global affairs.. well it's really the people with a stick up their butt that have neurosis, and the lighthearted people who can laugh at anything and roll with the punches that are the least neurotic, most happy people of all. It's interesting, having used to have been the former, and transitioning into the later, the change of perspective one has...
1. Pharmaceutical companies spend horrifyingly large sums of money to advertise directly to consumers (which used to be illegal), and with that, usage has gone WAY up, despite evidence that antidepressants provide little or no help.
2. I think that anxiety and depression are a normal part of life, but most Americans believe that the norm is to be perpetually happy. So if they're not happy, they feel something is wrong.
3. The complexities of modern life - including everything from balancing work/home, choosing the best phone plan, keeping up with email - trigger anxiety and depression. Seems that Facebook is a major factor, too.
4. I suspect that societies that encourage "striving" as America does, are particularly prone.
5. Media tends to do well with stories that trigger anxiety - stories like "Is Your Local Market Making You Sick?" You see this a lot in politics, as with politicians claiming wrongly that crime is rising. Check out the movie (online) called "The Power of Nightmares." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Nightmares
6. Don't confuse a casual stay in Fiji with in-depth confessions on the internet.
1.) Anti-depressants have poor success rates because different ones work on different people. All our brain chemistries differ to some degree. You may have to try several ADs to find the right one, or maybe none of them work on your unique brain chemistry.
2.) Anxiety and depression are normal. Extreme anxiety and depression are not.
3.) Yep, can't disagree, technology has both helped and hurt us. The best tools make the best weapons. Any good knife cuts both ways.
4.) No doubt increased expectations combined with decreased opportunities is part of the problem.
5.) I'm beginning to recognize media is one of my problems. But why don't I just turn it off? -- Actually as I type this I just did turn it off!
6.) The Internet may be more a cause of the problem than the cure. It's great for researching subjects and knowledge. I sometimes wonder if participation in FB and forums are contributing to the decline of mental health.
1.) Anti-depressants have poor success rates because different ones work on different people. All our brain chemistries differ to some degree. You may have to try several ADs to find the right one, or maybe none of them work on your unique brain chemistry.
2.) Anxiety and depression are normal. Extreme anxiety and depression are not.
3.) Yep, can't disagree, technology has both helped and hurt us. The best tools make the best weapons. Any good knife cuts both ways.
4.) No doubt increased expectations combined with decreased opportunities is part of the problem.
5.) I'm beginning to recognize media is one of my problems. But why don't I just turn it off? -- Actually as I type this I just did turn it off!
6.) The Internet may be more a cause of the problem than the cure. It's great for researching subjects and knowledge. I sometimes wonder if participation in FB and forums are contributing to the decline of mental health.
This is particularly true of health anxiety. Anxiety and stress can produce lots of symptoms which mimic diseases, and it's possible to get caught in this loop where you get stressed about about these various symptoms you think are caused by a disease and keep "googling" all these symptoms and getting all upset about them when it's really stress or anxiety and it become a feedback loop where each symptom adds fuel to the fire. Basically what's happening is a person is suffering from excessive activation of the sympathetic nervous system...
People who worry too much about what's going on in the world and spend too much time watching the media which sensationalizes negative events and paints the world as dreary can also run into problems. Turn off the TV/internet and live life.. it's short and you're wasting time by being negative or having negative thoughts.
This is particularly true of health anxiety. Anxiety and stress can produce lots of symptoms which mimic diseases, and it's possible to get caught in this loop where you get stressed about about these various symptoms you think are caused by a disease and keep "googling" all these symptoms and getting all upset about them when it's really stress or anxiety and it become a feedback loop where each symptom adds fuel to the fire. Basically what's happening is a person is suffering from excessive activation of the sympathetic nervous system...
Not only that, but mental health problems can cause symptoms that are just as bad as the disease, which I guess is what you said.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TabulaRasa
What you're essentially asking is, "Why are mental health issues, recognized, openly discussed, treated, etc. differently culture to culture?"
I can only speak of American culture. Mental health issues are becoming less stigmatized than in the past, part of our continuing cultural revolution. Note the media prescription drug advertisements. They are saying YOU NEED THIS DRUG! (Whether or not you need it.)
Yet the fact remains, and I have quoted this dozens of times, "One out of 3 persons will at some point in their life experience mental health symptoms that would benefit from treatment by a mental healthcare professional."
The more people understand how common mental health problems are I hope they will realize that there should be no stigma. That's 33% of everybody! If you have problems you are not alone!
The real statistic I'd like to see is how many people seek help vs. how many simply suffer and lead miserable lives without treatment. I can't prove it, have no statistics, but I suspect that few mental health problems cure themselves. Except exogenous problems--caused by an outside source--like losing a loved one to death. Treatment will help that but I expect most people will eventually get over it.
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