It's suggested that one reason for the change is that young people are now enduring so many overwhelming pressures in their lives that they can't bottle up their feelings anymore and are bringing them into the open and looking for professional guidance to help them out.
Whatever the reason, this big change can only be for the good. When I was young, people were a lot less sympathetic about mental problems and tended to shrug them off as some minor quirk. If you expressed your inability to cope, you would probably be told to "get a grip", "pull yourself together" or "be more positive". Such knee-jerk advice may have helped some people, but many others felt their problems weren't being taken seriously.
There's still some reluctance to use medications to deal with mental problems, and some reluctance to reveal they're being used, but they can be very effective in many cases.
Unfortunately they weren't much help to Jenny's old school friend who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was taking medicines for a number of years before killing herself at the second attempt. Her problems were very deep-rooted and not responsive to any kind of treatment.
Of course there are still people who're unsympathetic to mental problems, partly because they're lucky enough not to have any themselves, partly because they're still stuck in the "get a grip" approach, and partly because mental problems are by their nature invisible. But that sort of ignorance is fast declining.
*but not nearly enough
I was deeply depressed at twelve years old after a lot of changes in what had been a settled life. Our G.P., a German chap, took the time to talk to me, to make me isolate the problem and think about practical ways of dealing with it. He made me take responsibility for sorting it, and his best advice was 'don't let it win' - which was the right advice given my character.
ReplyDeleteI have every sympathy for people with mental problems, but do worry that common problems - like settling in at a new job - get 'upgraded' to something needing treatment.
Helen: Sounds like your GP was genuinely interested in your welfare and really helped you get back on track. And I agree about routine problems being upgraded.
DeleteHe was a super G.P. if you were ill, house visits as a matter of course....but not happy with people just seeking a sick note. I was in his waiting room when he expelled one chap who he said was clearly malingering...the explosion of wrath was impressive.
DeleteHelen: GPs must get fed up with people demanding sick notes when they're no more than slightly unwell.
DeleteMy family went to family counseling the year it became legal in the USA to do so. They assured us we could say anything and there would be no repercussions at home. Right. Not happening.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: Very sneaky to give you that assurance and then forget it.
DeleteThat is so sad to hear about Jenny's friend. That's very sad.
ReplyDeleteMary: It was very sad. She struggled along for years but finally she'd had enough.
DeleteMental illness is more prevalent and the reasons not hard to find. Economy, jobs, climate, war, social break down. It's hard on the psyche, and especially on younger people with fewer coping mechanisms. No grand old G.P.'s like Helen Devries had.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: Indeed, plenty of reasons for developing mental problems. And yes, young people don't always have the coping mechanisms that we oldies have.
DeleteWay back when we were in high school, a senior committed suicide. He was a popular guy with excellent grades. The theory is he was pushed too hard to be more than he felt he could be. We still do that to our kids.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: From what I hear and read, yes, parents are still pushing their kids to achieve great things and that really stresses them out.
DeleteSchizophrenia and bipolar disorder kill quite a lot of people via suicide. They are very difficult diseases and I don't blame the people who just can't keep fighting to live.
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased that there is less stigma around mental health issues , it must help to be able to acknowledge these things and also to feel less alone.
I do get very irritated with the ones who have a couple of bad days and are "depressed" or the ones who have some nerves in a high pressure situations and self diagnose anxiety. Possible the most infuriating are the ones who label themselves OCD as though a cleaning fetish is the same as a mental illness.
I dont dismiss people who claim to have mental illness but I think most of the ones truly suffering are less vocal and the attention seekers do them a dis-service
Kylie: I suspect you're right that the ones truly suffering are less vocal. And yes, people throw the OCD label around on the slightest pretext, when true OCD can devastate your life and the lives of those around you. That's not the same as a mild fetish.
DeleteI truly believe that there is a massive shortage of therapists to deal with all these mental issues. the common solution is to diagnose "chemical imbalance" in the brain and keep patients on a lifetime of prescriptions for sedatives/tranquilizers. It still startles me that most of my circle (male and female) are sedated. Forever. So flatlined basically. It's quite challenging to be around them at times as their feelings are so numbed. I believe all could use massive doses of therapy to dig out the roots of their traumas and pain.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
www: I think you're right about people needing massive doses of therapy. I had twelve sessions with a therapist and then gave it up because I didn't think I was getting anything out of it. I should have persisted. I certainly wouldn't want to be medically numbed.
DeleteA friend-of-a-friend of mine committed suicide and it was an awful shock. I was never aware he was having difficulties.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I think we may be moving too much the either way. Obviously we have serious mental health problems (and it's no joke and deserves to be given due credit) but I think there may have been an over-emphasis now. I've read headlines which read that young people are more than ever claiming mental health problems. A "mental health crisis" etc... And yet, my generation haven't gone to war or suffered any real tragedies (like the crash of 1929, Hiroshima) ... I sometimes wonder if the emphasis on mental health is creating a mental crisis around navigating everyday life.
Otherwise, I really like your post.
All the best
Liam.
Liam: I think you're right that a lot of people are claiming mental problems when they're just feeling rather overwhelmed by life. It seems like every other person now has mental problems. As you say, previous generations managed to cope with really dreadful situations without going into a spin. My parents went through the Second World War and just soldiered on.
DeleteSome of my great-grandparents fought in the great wars. That was an incredible generation. Absolutely amazing. I really admire them.
DeleteThey went - at a v. young age - into horrific warzones and fought. They then came back and quietly got on with their lives and rebuilt a smouldering nation back up. Of course, they had difficulties and mental health issues, but they kept on walking and just kept going; and that I really admire that in people. My great-grandfather survived the Somme and my grandad (who before he passed away talked to me about his earliest childhood) hardly ever knew because his dad never spoke about it. On the centenary of the WW1, I went to a memorial and thought of this great-grandfather I never met.
My own grandparents talked of rations and high levels of unemployment at a time when there was no welfare state and you had to look after yourself and your family. To my parents and grandparents generation, the idea of going on state benefits and getting dole money was wrong in principle and almost shameful. But, to my generation, it's seen as your "right". I think there’s been too much sheltering and codling so people don’t know how to deal with adversity.
At uni, I was at a dinner, and I said to my friends that I don’t think my generation could have fought Hitler. My cohort of uni students/friends would struggle with being told to do stuff, and struggled with covid lockdowns (which was staying at home!). How in the world are we going to fight in trenches! Or fight Putin if he came over. We’d all take time off for mental health!!
Liam.
Liam: I suspect you're right that today's youngsters wouldn't have what it takes to fight a new Hitler. But then again, the young are full of surprises!
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