Do you think modern humans are more mentally ill than their ancestors?

Question

depression,anxiety,cutters,bi polar,etc etc seems epidemic or was this always the case.

Answer 1

No we are just more aware. If there is an influx of more Ill's then I would have to lay the blame on the foods we eat these days. Everything is processed and not only does it have an effect on our physical bodies but I believe it would affect our mental capabilities.

Our daily foods these days have such a huge amount of chemicals for one thing or another that over time it builds up to a detrimental point.

Much like the "Mad Hatter" syndrome.

Answer 2

Probably not. Our ancestors didn't have people around to diagnose mental illness & many forms of mental illness in the past were thought to have been devinely inspired.  I know some of my classmates in the 40s & 50s had behaivior problems that would be diagnosed today, but then they were just rowdy or rude kids that got in trouble all the time.

Answer 3

I gotta agree w/ Rob. I think they just try to classify all our personality quirks as they come up with newer,more exciting illnesses...before long, we're ALL gonna have something "wrong" with us.

Answer 4

Mental illness is the result of chemical imbalances in combination with social and environmental influences.  Some of the people our modern society considers "mentally ill" would have been viewed as someone with "special" powers, and would have been the community shaman.  

To answer your question, it would depend on what time period you are talking about.  If you are talking European Middle Ages. . . someone with epilepsy, or someone who couldn't speak would have been considered mentally ill.  If you are talking paleolithic or neolithic time, they would have been the shamans.   Regarding the "cutters," they are in inner pain and turmoil and use cutting to deal with their pain.  If today's cutters would have been born in a culture that had instilled, acceptable methods of dealing with pain, maybe they wouldn't be cutters.  For example, among some tribes in North America, if a loved one died, the women cut.  It was acceptable. . . but then it was done.  They didn't go on cutting for months and years.  But, in general, given our modern societies' dysfunctional social, psychological and environment influences, there appears to be more mental illness than in the past.

Answer 5

It seems the human species is more prevalent today than their ancestors. The first billion inhabitants first inhabited the planet at the same time in the 1800's. Since then, it has added another billion every few years. More people are alive right now than at any time in history. And they get into the news.

Projected 9 billion soon.

Answer 6

Modern humans are abundantly more likely to be mentally ill then our ancestors. Some of the diseases you described couldn't have existed at the time of early humans.

Depression: Probably felt by early humans but in a less elaborate form.

Anxiety: Definitely felt by early humans but in regards to needs and safety

Cutters, Bi-Polar: I don't really think these were around back then, and even if they were those ancestors probably didn't breed!

Mental anguish of some sort was probably felt by early humans. I just cant see advanced social problems arising from behavioral extremes happening... Most of the brain was probably concerned with survival and procreation at that point.

Answer 7

Definitely.

First of all, we are evolved to be hunter gatherers not live in large complex societies.  We were evolved to be good at running across the Sahara, not sitting in a cubicle.  We are evolved to eat lean meat and highly acidic fruits and high fiber vegetables, not the super sized #3 at McDonalds. We were evolved to kill other threatening individuals, not call the cops or file a restraining order.  We were evolved to hunt and gather our food, not buy it in the grocery store.

Obviously humans are HIGHLY adaptable one of their greatest traits so humans have been able to make the transition rather well... a few world wars, genocides and religious inquisitions here and there... but overall we've come a long way.

One other thing to think about is that those that have mental illnesses today (inherantly and not derived from society) would NOT have survived in hunter gather societies, yet today we can "cure" them or at least allow them to survive and reproduce.  But by doing so we are re-introducing those genes into future generations.  We no longer allow Natural Selection to be so "Natural" now it's really Artificial Selection although without any real goal or point, just survival of everything (fit or not).

Answer 8

I think too much free time & choices. Starvation, Fight or flite,

our ancestors, I recon, had more pressing isuse. No they were all nutters, it's all reletive.

Answer 9

Many of these so called "Mental Illnesses" are driven by social actions.  So yes, I believe we are seeing more of this type of thing.

Depression and anxiety are "Hot" words that are thrown around to freely without real diagnosis.

Answer 10

No, I believe that we just think we are.

Answer 11

Medicalization of social/cultural phenomena + awareness + science and technology = mental illness.

Some illnesses are found in almost every culture, such as depression and schizophrenia, others are culturally unique. Remember too, that someone who is classified as mentally ill in our culture, may be praised in another as having a closer bond with the spirit world or something of that nature. With science, comes scientific or near science explanations. So, I do not think that modern humans are any more mentally ill than in the past, but only if we apply our cultural definitions and our science of psychiatry to past cultures, but is psychiatry really a science or is it a reflection of inherent flaws in our reality?

Answer 12

Totally worse off than yesterday's civilizations in emotional stresses. They are forced to pay taxes for everything when some people only get 120.00 a month to live.

They have no where to turn for help as just getting moral and social help means that first they need to be mentally ill. This leaves a lot of people without moral support for their questions, concerns, and ideas.

Their government's make sure they are never free, hence they can't even trip over a shoelace and fall off a curb in front of a cop car without getting arrested.

I think these stresses existed a lot for their ancestors but their ancestors were more free so they did not notice them and become ill by them. Historically the stresses were just social problems that you would think about like the self reminding message that you forgot to lock your door. This would be the extent of today's bi-polar disorders and anxiety, where it was yesterday's simple thinking.