Are we now expecting to have mental health problems?

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 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.

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.

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

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

80s being my teenage years x

When I was depressed as a teen I was told to "get over it" and I didn't for most of my adult life because I was made too ashamed to ask for help. The suicide rate was actually higher in the 80s than it is now x

Doodledog, I'm not really sure how to answer you.

A part of me feels that today because people are more aware of mental illness, they do tend to self diagnose more than in the past, and equate the stress and demands of every day living with mental illness.
However in my opinion there is a huge difference between dealing with the ups and downs of everyday living' and actual mental illness. They are not the same thing.

There seems to be much higher expectations nowadays, competing with peers to earn high salaries, have expensive clothes, cars, holidays etc. and when people don't achieve that, they say they are depressed.

My experiences have made me a much stronger and more resilient person, they have made me who I am. I cannot change the past, but I'm no longer ashamed, I'm proud I plucked up courage, to admit I needed help from the cardiac psychologist after my diagnosis.
Posting here has been so cathartic! Onward and upwards. It has taken a lifetime!?

I forgot to add, I’ve been there, too, Marydoll, many years ago now, though I had more love shown to me than you had.

I think I understand what the OP is trying to say. Poor mental health has always been with us, though. Think of the men who fought in WW1/2 who suffered shell-shock in silence. Or going further back, to Victorian times, with women having fits of the vapours or hysterics or taking to their beds. I’d put money on those being physical manifestations of mental unwellness.

I’m on a Family History group which has transcriptions of old newspapers from the mid-1800’s. There are a surprising number of suicides reported despite it being illegal then. But in all the cases I’ve read, extraordinary compassion was shown to the victim, speaking of the pressures he/she was under, or the unbearable situations they were in. It belies the view that people didn’t understand other people’s mental stresses, even if they didn’t use the language we use today.

Marydoll ?
Mental health is just as important as physical health
If you don't feel up to par, then whatever the problem is, it needs to be addressed
I just think that there is more awareness now and surely that is a good thing, rather than pretend something isn't happening

A sad but good post Marydoll.

Good post Marydoll

Marydoll well said. It's the stigma that's attached to mental ill health that stops many people admitting to needing help and going and getting it. The easier we become in being more open about it; people will feel less embarrassed and judged and so seek help.

That must have been horrible, Marydoll, and I'm sorry you had to go through it.

Do you mind if I ask - do you feel that there has been an epidemic of mental illness, or do you think that these days people self-diagnose and assume that feelings of 'normal ups and downs' are the same as genuine illness? Obviously, please ignore me if that is too personal a question.

Lizbethann55, I understand exactly what you are trying to say.
I have never spoken about this before to anyone.

Years ago, there was a huge stigma attached to mental illness and people rarely spoke about it or acknowledged that they had a problem, it was like a dirty secret. Nowadays, people are encouraged to talk about their feelings and be more proactive about seeking support, whether on forums like GN, (The Black Dog Gang) or from medics.

Many years ago, I suffered from serious post natal depression, compounded by larges doses of steroids, I was taking for a lung condition and my mother, a midwife, who should have known better, told me to pull myself together and get on with things! Everyone feels low after having a baby, give yourself a shake. I remember on one occasion she slapped me!

I was in such a dark place of despair and felt ashamed that I was so weak, but I couldn't ask for help, it just wasn't done.
It wasn't until the consultant who had prescribed the steroids realised how unwell I was and sent me to see my GP.
I was so embarrassed, I felt a failure and my family couldn't understand why I was being so difficult.
To this day, I don't know why my husband didn't walk out.

In my opinion, doctors are far better at diagnosing mental health issues nowadays and that is why we are more aware of it.
I remember my GP saying that it was not my fault, it was caused by a chemical imbalance in my brain. I had thought I was going mad.

Today, I have no qualms about seeking help and saying how I feel. After my recent diagnosis of a serious heart condition, on top of all the other conditions, I could feel those old feelings creeping back in to my head.
However, I did something about it and felt so much better having sought help and being able to vocalise my feelings about the unfairness of it all.

Everyone's experience of life is different, some are resilient and cope really well with everyday life, but for some it is so overwhelming, they cannot function.

Until you have been in that deep, black hole, suffocating in despair, you have absolutely no conception of what it is like.

I know what you mean, OP. I think it's a tricky one, as clearly there are people who are in need of understanding and help, but at the same time, just as with physical illness, there are those who use mental health as an excuse not to do things they don't want to do, and the impact on other people needs to be considered.

I have a colleague who is absent from work every time anything stressful happens. When I say 'stressful', I am talking about fairly routine things, which are very much part of the job description, but she finds the effort of doing them too much, so takes time off sick, and the rest of us have to pick up the slack whilst doing our own job (including whatever stressful event is going on). The colleague has admitted that she can't cope, and that she stays in the role because she likes the salary, which is above average because the job can be stressful at times.

Similarly, there is a growing trend for memes on Facebook (usually illustrated by characters from Winnie the Pooh) which say that it is ok to not turn up to things, ok not to answer texts, ok to cancel arrangements - basically that it's ok to let people down and only think of yourself. Never mind that others might be worried, or might have cooked the meal you don't turn up for, or might have gone to expense to buy tickets you cancel.

We need to find a happy medium, I think. Everyone gets stressed at times, and everyone has days when they would prefer to sit in front of the TV than go out as arranged, but it just adds to the stress for others if people put their own feelings before those of others.

Before anyone shouts at me, I know that real depression is far worse than not wanting to go out, but there seems to be a bandwagon just now, and real mental illness is being hijacked and used as an excuse to be selfish, which is bad for those who really do suffer, as well as for those who get let down.

It would be dreadful if we went back to the days when so many women were medicated just to get through the day, and people were unable to express their feelings of depression or anxiety and had miserable lives, but that could be what happens if there is a backlash against those using mental illness as an excuse.

It is hard to understand Lizbethann attitudes to mental illness of which depression is one have changed so much. Problems are discussed more openly and treatments other than medication are available. We are all so much more aware now and that has its down side. Don't confuse clinical depression with a low mood. I agree that sometimes we need to draw on our inner resources and help ourselves in bad times but for many people this is just not possible.

I can see what Lizbethann is getting at but I'm glad that mental health is more easily discussed now and that the stigma of mental ill health is being eroded; very much better for those who suffered with depression and who had to try and cover it up or be faced with being called awful names.

Why is your friend the exception Liz? she was/is one of the many. I have made a life for myself, have adult children, Grandchildren, a good job, my own home and car. Not a boast I was lucky I found the strength to do something about it. There was a time though where it could have been a real possibility I would have been on the scrap heap or proved my Father right, you are useless was his favourite thing to say to me. Oh how wrong he was.
Yes life is highs and lows but anxiety, depression and mental illness are not the same thing at all.

Lizbethann have you ever suffered from depression?

Telling people with depression ‘ that you are feeling alive’ trivialises the agony that they are going through.

Depression isn’t just feeling ‘down’ and a ‘bit low’

People were depressed and taking their own lives long before the Internet, we just didn’t hear about it.

I agree with Anniebach and rafichagran

People don't kill themselves because 'they feel a bit down'

rafichafran Valium was known as ‘mother’s little helpers’ ,
they caused much harm. Some doctors referred to patients who had mental illness as ‘fat envelopes’ because in desperation they often sought the doctors help.

Agree with your post Annie There were loads of people who suffered depression in previous decades, they were either told to pull themselves together, or they were dragged up to the eye balls with anti depressants and sleeping pills. Valium 10 was what I was put on at 17 because I was so depressed.

I wonder too whether social media might be more to blame Greymar. Maybe it’s use correlates with the rise in depression? Ditto drugs, in my opinion.