A study, just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, confirms that there is more mental illness and insanity, far more, in America than you find in other advanced societies.
The study, led by a Harvard Medical School researcher, found evidence of mental problems in 26.4 % of people in the United States, versus, for example, 8.2% of people in Italy. The researchers were concerned with matters such as lack of access to treatment and under-treatment, but for those concerned about a safe and decent world, I think the salient finding is simply America’s high percentage. The world is being led by a nation where more than one-quarter of the people have genuine mental problems.
itsme01, I find all such social studies very culturally biased.
For example, asking an American how he feels about work stress verses asking a Japanese how he feels about the same are two very different questions if the cultural differences are kept in perspective. Unlike the Japanese, Americans don’t consider work as honor, here the mantra is ‘family comes first’. So, an American would be more likely to say they he is stressed at work even though they might be far less stressed than the Japanese counterpart.
Also, in Desi culture, having a mental illness is readily equated to being ‘crazy’, which isn’t the case. Going to a councilor or a physiatrist is considered a taboo. Depression is rampant in South Asia but you wouldn’t find a lot of people talking about it in Pakistan. In fact, in Pakistan the depressed are considered those who can’t suck it up and are weak, whiners and complainers. So the reason we don’t know how many people have ‘mental illness’ in Pakistan or Afghanistan is because there is no Pakistani Harvard looking into it.
There are five axis to establishing a psychiatric diagnosis. And, if you look hard enough, I think there is some component of psychiatric phenomenon that can be attributed to every person....except the rich, they are "eccentric". :D