Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Mental Health Disorders

Do Americans have more than anyone else? According to the Atlantic:
Over a 12-month period, 27 percent of adults in the U.S. will experience some sort of mental health disorder, making the U.S. the country with the highest prevalence. Mental health disorders include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and substance abuse. Over one’s entire lifetime, the average American has a 47.4 percent chance of having any kind of mental health disorder. Yes, that’s almost one in two. The projected lifetime prevalence is even higher: for people who reach age 75 it is 55 percent. The WHO data does not take into account eating disorders, personality disorders, and schizophrenia; the incidence of these disorders together is about 15 percent in the U.S., according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
(Read entire article.)
Share

3 comments:

Julygirl said...

I have read that this country has more Sociopaths than China, (25% of the pop.), because we raise our children with a sense of entitlement, whereas in China they are trained to consider the common good.

The North Coast said...

I don't believe Americans have more mental disorders, but only spend more time "picking their belly-button lint" in therapist's offices, and feeling sorry for themselves.

I believe that our enormous sense of entitlement makes us believe that life should be one big, long party and that normal "bad feelings" such as grief, regret, remorse, disappointment, and humiliation are "disorders" that must be "treated". The dominant belief in the psychiatric community seems to be that if you do not feel "up" 100% of the time, that you must have some sort of mental disorder.

This belief sells a lot of psychotropic drugs and explains why most people not only don't improve in therapy, but feel worse and also become less mature and responsible.

elena maria vidal said...

I agree!