Why is anxiety and depression an epidemic compared to 40 years ago?

Question

Why do you think depression, anxiety and mental health problems have grown to be an epidemic? What do you think would help slow the progression of mental health problems? Do you think mental health problems are genitic, situational, environmental, or is it due to a chemical imbalance? When a person becomes depressed; do you think it is because our brain stops producing certain chemicals or does our brain produce a chemical that aggravates depression/anxiety? Why is it when we feel anxious, our bodies react in strange ways such as pounding heart, dizzyness, can't breath, and intestinal problems?

Answer 1

Perhaps we are all too willing to be "labelled" with an illness rather than just accepting that sometimes life sucks, you've got to deal with it and move on.

I do believe depression is a genuine illness, and awful for anyone who really does suffer.

Answer 2

There is no epidemic. The only difference between now and 40 years ago, is that now people who are mentally ill can get treatment without being locked away for the rest of their lives.

Answer 3

Why do you think depression, anxiety and mental health problems have grown to be an epidemic? What do you think would help slow the progression of mental health problems?  I think we just talk about them more than we used to. However, there are some social changes that may lead to anxiety; family structure isn't what it used to be, people feel more isolated, etc. Maybe having a stronger sense of family and being part of a group of people who care about you, people you can talk comfortably with about anything.

Do you think mental health problems are genitic, situational, environmental, or is it due to a chemical imbalance? It can be any of those; it's generally considered a "chemical imbalance", but that could be triggered by genetic, situational factors, physical disease or head injury, or any combination of these.

When a person becomes depressed; do you think it is because our brain stops producing certain chemicals or does our brain produce a chemical that aggravates depression/anxiety?  At least some of the time, yes. More often the brain still produces them, but they break down too quickly before they do what they are supposed to do. No one is absolutely sure why that happens in some people and not others.

Why is it when we feel anxious, our bodies react in strange ways such as pounding heart, dizzyness, can't breath, and intestinal problems? The autonomic nervous system controls mood, anxiety, digestion, s*x, etc. I think it's a kind of imbalance in the autonomic nervous system. It might have been there to help our prehistoric ancestors get away from an enemy or something but maybe the purpose of this isn't as practical in modern times. Kind of left over instincts for survival that are no longer applicable. (Just an idea.)

Answer 4

'cause there's more things to worry about nowadays than there was back then.most mental problems are genetic and can be environmental and chemicals in the brain.we feel that way because anxiety gets the body worked up to the point where the fight or flight response is activated.maybe lowering problems in the world,lowering stress,kindness goes a long way when it comes to helping someone that is mentally ill

Answer 5

The sixties were the Viet Nam war, Viet Nam war protests, the Civil Rights movement, the assignation of Martin Luther King, the assignation JFK, the assignation of Robert Kenedy, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War........  Life today is not more stressful, it is different.  What's more, most ppl today can choose to live with their blackberries, iPods, laptops, cram a million things in their day or turn off all the technology and live at a calmer pace.  It is a choice.

Depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems are not an epidemic.  They exist in the same numbers today as they have in the past.  There are more treatments today than in the past.  People are treated more openly and live in the community instead of being confined to home or institutionalized.  Illnesses are discussed more openly.  And, some ppl more quickly jump to "disorder" than seeking natural alternatives.  However, this only is possible because their actually are medical alternatives today.

What would slow the progress?  Anxiety would be less if people turned off the non-essential technology and lived a more physically and emotionally healthful lifestyle.  Same can be said for some forms of depression.  Some benefit would be seen for many mental illnesses, but as for the occurance of major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, some forms of anxiety, OCD, PTSD, etc, it'd be a bandaide on a medical wound.  

Mental health problems are due to genetics and situations or a combination depending on the illness.  These result in chemical reactions in the brain that cause symptoms.  Btw, chemical imbalance is a gross over simplification.  Our brain chemicals fluctuate all of the time.

It's not clear what happens in the brain when one becomes depressed.  Since antidepressants increase the time to pass neurotransmitters between neurons, it seems that there is a deficiency in one or more neurotransmitters in the chain of reactions that result in depression.

Panic attacks are often due to increased adrenalin.  I think cortisol is involved, but am not sure.  I assume some other system may come into play as well since antidepressants act as strong antianxiety meds as well.

Answer 6

well i think it only seems that way because 40 years ago it wasn't really very common to deal with these issues.  most families believed the old concept of pulling yourself up by your boot straps and dealing with it.  mental conditions weren't really talked about.

Answer 7

Well, i have anxiety because i was bullied!

Now my confidence is low because of them bastereds!

So enviironment for me!

I was perfectly ok untill that