Are we now expecting to have mental health problems?

80s being my teenage years x

In the 60 s I lived in RAF camps one (I won’t say which) was nicknamed the suicide camp because a good few of the wives had found out husbands were having affairs and killed themselves The method always seemed to be tablets or more popularly the gas oven
I think it’s always been with us but probably grown in the young who are using drugs so much more which completely fries the mind I went to the funeral of a 20 year old who hanged himself last week he was heavily into drugs and I think saw the world through different eyes He had everything you could want in life a really rich household with everything
The other thing is of course it’s reported so much more now We only used to hear whispering and rumours, now it’s full on news isn’t it

If self diagnosed they cannot be included in the figures given for the number who are receiving treatment.

Bluebell, that's awful, there should have been someone they could have talked to, in that respect things are better now. the message out there is that there is no shame about how you're feeling and talk about it to someone. We all get down at time, it a temporary situation, but clinical depression is life threatening without proper medical help. It is to be hoped you get a sympathetic GP, if they are not don't give up.

I agree regarding the increased amounts of illicit drug related suicides, with a lot of these drugs, they are used to climb emotionally to great feelings of happiness and euphoria. The downside is though that in between fixes the mood swings into the low moods are very deep and distressing indeed.
Within our city we have several drug rehabilitation units, the majority of them are a short walk away from a road bridge over a busy by-pass, not many weeks go by when we don’t get a traffic disruption and road closure where someone has taken their own life by jumping off one of these bridges, and sadly they are often young people who have had a troubled past and have turned to illicit drugs as a coping strategy for everyday life, and started on the slippery emotional road to hell. So Sad and such a waste of a young life.

It would help if the word ‘ depressed’ was only used for clinical depression, but and not for just feeling down. Similarly the word ‘ stress’ covers a multitude of issues. There is a world of difference between mental illness and feeling a bit down.
There are also those whose mental health is a result of their circumstances eg poverty, poor housing, physical illness, bereavement etc.

I agree with a lot of the comments above. I don't know about expecting to have mental health problems, certainly it is discussed more openly and that can only be a good thing. Drugs do not help and are often used as a way of coping with how the person is feeling.

I know from personal experience how very difficult it is to get the correct diagnosis for a loved one, it has taken years for me to get help for my daughter, literally years and I am worn out with it to be honest. It affects the whole family.
There are so many factors involved.

I am sure suicides were covered up more in the past, people certainly had easy access to drugs that would kill them, laudanum etc. Also I suspect a lot of mental illness was referred to as eccentricity, not a word you hear so much now.

Reading the O/P again.

‘That sometimes feeling low, unhappy, lonely , guilty, depressed, a failure etc etc etc were actually part of normal everyday living and life just as much as feeling happy, fulfilled, contented etc. So shouldn't we be learning that feeling negative emotions are not a sign of illness but a sign of being alive and that they will probably pass’

And if they don’t pass ?

Lizbethann, i agree with your original post.

I think the trouble is that people who want to end it all are despairing for one reason or another. Some cannot believe the bad trouble will ever end, they could be terminally ill, and they may have good reason to believe this, so it is not mental illness.

The sort of despair that comes from low self esteem is a genuine mental illness and is probably on the increase especially with the demise of religious 'salvation'. There is a great need for people who have low self esteem to be counselled by proficient counsellors, or have friends who will help them to laugh at themselves. People with low self esteem are often lonely people.

“Small-minded people blame others. Average people blame themselves. The wise see all blame as foolishness”
― Epictetus

Lizbethann55 Real depression is VERY different from feeling sad about something. Unless/until a person has actually experienced it, you won't know. I know.

Alexa low self esteem is not the reason for suicide.I have had very low self esteem my whole life and never felt the urge to jump from the bridge 10 miles from here where suicides are a regular occurence.Perhaps you have never felt the despair where there seems no way out,so you and I are lucky .

Sadly I've known a few people who did who were treated or being treated for mental health issues ,including PND when they decided they couldn't go on.

Families supported them,health workers "thought she was doing well" "no one expected" him to" they had so much to live for" .all things I've heard at funerals of young people who jumped from that bridge .The first when I was in my 20's so over 40 years ago.

Its not possible to see whats going on in a head when the person is bright and cheerful every time you see them ,masking the hopelessness underneath .
I have a daughter who has bouts of depression who has attempted to end her life in the past ,who tells me she sometimes wishes she was "brave enough" to end it now but the hurt she would cause her children stops her .

I completely understand her feelings and I talk to her endlessly to make her see that she cant give up on life however limited her life is since her illness.I doesn't help when doctors tell her there is NO HOPE of a cure or even a relief from her pain
Dont judge ,thats the first thing you need to do, it IS an illness ,just because they aren't hooked up to chemo ,or wearing a cast or writhing in pain on the floor doesn't make it less of an illness.

Here we go again with the binary approach to everything. I like the phrase 'living with' or 'living well with'. It is possible to live with depression. Depression is not being a bit fed up. The more open and honest we can be about health, the better. The OP is right to air her thoughts.

The only reason it's more common is that we're not so ashamed to say we have mental health issues any more. We can be open about our illness to an extent although it could be better. No one commits suicide just because they think they're depressed. The survival instinct kicks in. People commit suicide because they believe that the world would be a better place if they weren't in it. I didn't succeed (thank goodness) but at the time I was convinced that I was doing the right thing for everyone. At that point your thinking is so warped that you can't see how it will really affect people.

Well put, Lizbethann. I too have pondered on the same issue. We all need to develop resilience to be able to cope with the ups and downs of life.

I also think it's a positive thing that mental issues can be discussed more openly, and that help may be available - if hard to come by in too many cases.

Are you suggesting that all I need to do is 'develop resilience to be able to cope with the ups and downs of life'? So I'm weak not ill? Depression is an illness. Would you say that a diabetic just has to develop a resilience to sugar or someone with kidney failure needs to develop a resilience to bodily toxins?

Am I angry about your post? You bet I am. I have a debilitating disease that affects every aspect of my life. I'm not weak or lacking in moral fibre. I have a chemical imbalance in my brain and the symptoms affect the way my mind works.

All those of you with M/H issues, and I understand and empathise, I am lucky, my late mother and son suffer terribly from depression, are missing the point that the OP has raised. Of course you have an illness, but not everyone who claims to be depressed has.

Sorry, I know this will not be a popular view, but the OP has been very brave to open this debate and I agree, many young people have not had to develop resilience and jump on the M/H bandwagon when things get tough. I know. I work with several

So my darling daughter who suffered bipolar for many years
only needed to develop resilience and she wouldn’t have jumped from a bridge and die ?

Mental illness is not a choice, is not having a ‘I’m fed up day’,

Little wonder people still don’t speak out about their illness,
reading some posts, all they need is to boost their self esteem
and develop resilience.

Those who know least judge most , thus it has always been

Annie ?

I do not know why there is so much discussed about mental health/mental illness these days maybe it is because as a society we are seeing it more and more. One of my experiences in regard of mental illness relates to my cousin, and she presented with mental issues about 35 years ago, she was a very attractive young woman of 25 years old at the time, unmarried and no children. There had been no indications at all during her life that she had any problems.
One day she walked out of a well paid job and two days later went walkabout on the local common in middle of night in her nightie. She was sectioned as my aunt did not know what to do. To cut a long story short many medications were tried out and also two more sectionings happened. Later my cousin got the injection once a fortnight from mental health professionals which seemed to be something that worked. My cousin never worked again as her mental capacity seemed burnt out. She is now just over 60 years and still goes out window shopping and takes walks and thankfully she is stable and on her medication. She is a chain smoker and this has ruined her beautiful attractive good looks and she now looks about 75 years old something which upsets me a lot when I see her, but life is precious and she is still here so that is something to be thank-full for.

Well said vampirequeen

Dottygran you work with several ? Yet don’t know a mental
health illness has to be diagnosed, not self diagnosed.

Annie, no no no, that's exactly the point I was trying to make, there ARE many people who suffer terribly with mental health, I grew up with it, and now my son suffers terribly. But not everyone who claims to, does.

I have read so many of your posts, and know how your Darling Daughter died, and my heart has and does go out to you, I don't know how you cope.

My post was NOT aimed at people with genuine MH problems, I of all people really DO know the difference. My son once described how he felt to me, it said it felt as if one or both of his children were about to die.............

Annie, I am going to stop posting now, as I have clearly upset you and wish I had kept me big gob shut. It is the self diagnosers that I refer to.

Please forgive me. I would never say anything to upset you or anyone who really does know the difference between real and percieved MH issues

I developed MH issues as a young person. It wasn't lack of resilience then and it isn't now.

I find the term 'M/H bandwagon' offensive. You can't self diagnose and prescribe yourself treatment for a MH condition no more than you can any long term physical condition. Just because an illness or condition is becoming more recognised and accepted by the general public doesn't make it a fashion or a bandwagon.