New Study: 26% Of Americans Have Mental Illnesses

[UpInArms]

http://www.whiotv.com/health/3372160/detail.html

DAYTON, Ohio -- If you are feeling stressed lately, a new study shows you are not alone.

The research showed the United States has more cases of mental illness than 14 other major countries that were examined. This includes anxiety disorders and depression.

More than 26 percent of Americans have a mental illness. The most common symptoms are panic attacks, phobias, and post traumatic stress disorder.

...very short newsblurb...

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. Those 26% must be Bush's core supporters.

[quispquake]

4. Actually, Bush is the major CAUSE of many panic attacks...

I had a couple of panic attacks pre-Shrub, but I get them a helluva lot more now...(on meds for the racing heart now).

Never needed them before the coup of 2000. So, please don't include me in your "core supporters" list!!!!!

[kwyjibo]

33. me too

you should see the pages of my sketchbook from around the time when the war was starting, and the shock and awe thing happened. i was very distressed, and scared all the time. I bet Bush didn't think about that when he decided to go after Saddam. I wonder if he cares at all.

I wonder if his daughters are in the 26%

[struggle4progress]

45. I think the Bushistas are responsible for a lot of psychoses, too.

[demdave]

6. Not very progressive of you to belittle those with mental illness is it?

I have read many people here who have shared their stories of living and dealing with depression, anxiety and other illnesses.

[Claire Beth]

7. should be a much higher percentage for those kind..LOL. n/t

[MadAsHell]

2. Another way to think about it ...

Think about the three people closest to you. If none of them are mentally ill then it must be you!!!!

[rooboy]

3. Is one of the symptoms to call C-SPAN ?? n/t

[mulethree]

5. It's all that stress caused by bad news reporting like this

Stupid little news blurbs that refer to anonymous 'studies' and pick out disturbing 'hilights' while providing no context or reference.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

8. Trust me...

From my experience, it just might be more. Remember: Undiagnosed is unidentified.

Personally, I think that sociopathy is the real comer in the mental health market. If there was a futures market in sociopathy, we could all get really rich.

[THUNDER HANDS]

9. most americans

Could probably use a vacation too. We work waaay to hard in this country. Too much work = too much stress.

[AP]

10. So BUY BUY BUY DRUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[joeunderdog]

30. #1 drug in America....

You guessed it. PROSAC.

[TahitiNut]

32. Nope. It's alcohol.

:shrug: The anti-prozac.

[colonel odis]

11. 26%, eh? so that's how many republicans there are in this country.

(not belittling those with mental illness. however, since i've been treated for and fought depression for years, if anyone can belittle them i can.)

[pippin]

12. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1702530&mesg_id=1702530

[leftofthedial]

13. that's the core Repuke base n/t

[Lou_C]

14. I only talk to myself I don't answer myself

:shrug:

[Snellius]

15. What else could explain Bush's continued appeal?

Obviously takes one to know one. The Tyranny of the Stupid. The Revenge of the Deranged.

[Don_G]

16. I Wonder If That Correlates

To the 25% retention rate in some military units serving in Iraq and Afghanistan now?

[Mountainman]

17. If Gore was in the White House, Tipper would have shed a lot of light

on this issue and just maybe we wouldn't have some of the stupid replies we have to this thread.

Mental illness can happen to anyone. It can ruin you life. If you don't understand what's happening to you and you let your peers preach to you about drugs and other misinformed statements, you may never recover. But if you are wise and seek professional help you can have a normal productive life.

I take meds for anxiety and depression and without them my life may have been over years ago.

I'd advise people who don't understand mental illness to keep your silly remarks to yourself. You only add to the misinformation that keeps people suffering needlessly.

[TahitiNut]

31. What makes anyone think that reichbots aren't due compassion?

If I were to opine (similar to Janeane Garofalo) that a person who supports Bush/Cheney has a mental disorder, why would that indicate a lack of compassion on my part?

Let's be clear. As a liberal, I support the rights and liberties of individual human beings and not organizations (governmental, corporate, or otherwise) that subordinate individual human beings to some authoritarian/autocratic "pecking order" that cedes power and wealth to the few at the cost of the many. I am supportive of the well-being of all human beings, including reichbots.

A pragmatic definition of "mental illness" is based upon whether the person poses a danger to themselves or others. I see anyone who supports the superior 'right' (entitlement) to wealth and power for those already wealthy and powerful as posing a very real and present danger to both themselves and others.

I don't hate the ill; I hate the illness.

[lazarus]

35. I think what he means

is the way so many people on this thread believe:

1: That this is all a load of crap designed to sell drugs.

and

2: that those with mental illnesses are likely to vote for Bush.

Both beliefs are wildly off base, of course.

[Mountainman]

46. That's like saying gays have AIDS because they are gay

You would not go around saying a class of people has an illness if it were cancer or AIDS or any other illness.

Mental illness is a treatable disease not a group think.

[WildClarySage]

18. The other 75%

are in denial.

[Just Me]

19. Mental illness in this country is a serious problem.

Of course, I'm not sure whether that study involves a statistical calculation or is based only upon those who have actually sought treatment.

I do believe that such an epidemic (and I do consider 1 in 4 sufferers as evidence of an epidemic) proves that we have some serious socioeconomic problems that require redress in this country.

[BiggJawn]

20. ONLY 26%???

Shit, almost everyone I know "doesn't feel right" ever since the Bush Cabal with their NewSpeak took over...

War, war, war, terra, terra, terra...Go buy duck tape. go buy plastic sheeting. Report "Suspicous Activity". Go to Disneyland, but be aware that Al-Kaseltzah may strike while you're on a ride....Who WOULDN'T be stressing-out???

Me personally, I'm depressed. Some days I don't want to do anything. I don't pursue activities that I used to. I isolate myself from society.

And why don't I get "help"?

Because eating pills or talking to a therapist won't make Bush go away.

If I'm still down 6 months after Bush goes away, then I'll get help.

[Nikia]

48. I had my first panic attack about a couple weeks after 9/11

I didn't know what was going on. It felt like a medical emergency so I went to the emergency room. As we were leaving, the nurse said that a lot more people had been coming in with panic attacks since then. I may have been predisposed to anxiety and a couple other changes were going on in my life then too. When people realize that they might not have a future though, I think that it is a normal response to get anxious or depressed, as many people did.

[HuckleB]

21. Study by whom? On edit: Oh, the WHO.

This is a ridiculous piece, without any context. You can't even track the study down from the information offered. Sheesh.

The piece noted in a response above titled dupe actually offers some information: http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/88/99740?GT1=3479

Still, it's basically impossible to compare rates between countries, for a number of reasons, some of them noted in the msn piece.

[NashVegas]

38. I'd Like to Know Their Standard for "Drug Abuse"

ie, does it refer strictly to people with a chemical dependency, or are they lumping in recreational users?

[HuckleB]

41. It's a very good question.

It is quite difficult to tease out dependency and recreational use, as it is.

[Fleshdancer]

22. this must mean new anxiety and depression medications are on the market

It's just like when new sleeping pills are released...suddenly there are news stories about how Americans don't get enough sleep.

[HuckleB]

24. Actually, no, there are no new meds on the market.

Not everything is connected to pharmaceutical companies. Most mental health care practitioners actually have the best interests of their patients in mind, believe it or not.

[Fleshdancer]

27. well that was a testy response

I'm well aware that mental health care practitioners "actually have the best interests of their patients in mind, believe it or not". My mother use to lobby on behalf of MHMR here in TX so I'm well aware of the importance and the uphill battle mental health care practitioners face. But when this "article" makes claims on "a study" without any information on who did the study, then it's not too far fetched to question it.

[HuckleB]

42. I see.

So assuming that such a piece means that "new meds are on the market" without looking into it further is a reasonable response? Unfortunately, television news is the problem more often than not, when sources are not revealed. They don't want to take the time to do it.

This is a WHO study, in case you didn't see the link noted in the "dupe" response above.

[midnight armadillo]

25. You got it.

Pharma companies are very eager to invent new psychological conditions in order to get doctors to prescribe their drugs. Give them a few more decades and any behavior that slightly deviates from the norm will be heavily medicated.

We already dope the bejesus out of children, such as using Ritalin to calm down boys rather than giving them an outlet for their energy. You know, something like 'recess' or 'gym.'

I think the latest dubious disorder was social anxiety disorder, treatable with a nice pill (just repackaged Prozac) from your friendly local doctor.

[RedCloud]

34. Right on Midnight Armadillo

I used to be an Anthropologist, but I felt that psychology was abusing its privilege by creating pseudo-syndromes to gain the Big Bucks.

Now it is considered taboo to bring up the subject of diets when diagnosing disorders, but if someone indulges purely in junk food you can bet they are headed for some biochemical breakdown and subsequent disorder. How much sugar must we ingest??? How many sodas??? How many Twinkies???

Check the diet first. Most students I have encountered with learning problems do not even eat a breakfast, much less a hearty one. How can they gear up for the rigors of life when they start their days off so poorly? When people realize that the brain needs food, especially protein, then they begin to repair to some extent the damage already done. For psychiatrists and doctors to ignore the life giving facts about proper nutrition is down right criminal.

A great thought from anthropology:

What the individual does is what is normal for that individual, not what culture or society dictates. (There went about 75% of psychology right out the window.)

We need more anthropology. Maybe we should gather once a week a la religion and discuss our role as a member of the animal kingdom.

[demnan]

23. Our entire society is sick

Any society with unequal justice like ours has many factors that cause people to become mentally ill. First, there is the isolation in our communities, then the separation of families, the strict unbending attitudes of our bosses and their owner-companies. The selfishness of the very, very rich and the violence of the very poor. It's a wonder more people aren't on medication for their mental health.

Many of those who aren't, ought to be.

[jpgray]

26. Wouldn't that be 26% of Americans are DIAGNOSED with mential illness?

I think a lot of the depression cases might be explained by being out of shape and having no place to put a lot of energy and sweat into. Both those things would depress the crap out of me.

[lil-petunia]

28. So that explains freeperitis.

[BadGimp]

29. That explains the GOP's support in the polls

{shields up}

[classics]

36. If you are not perfect you have an illness, disease or disorder.

The new american mantra. Only the superman is free of defect.

[PATRICK]

37. Noticed something in the seventies

The war had been and was still going on. After spending a bit of time outside the country and coming back... no even before when looking at American fellow travelers...the whole damned population seemed under some kind of crippling neurosis. I know that sounds odd and of course after settling back in I began not to notice it so much, but that was this depressed miasma, inability to think straight, anxiety, preference for dull colors, dull everything. Even some of the movies in their glamorous way had this gritty fog about them.

Then peace and disco hit. Carter mentioned malaise and got trounced. Apparently the bad stuff lingered on anyway.

Wasn't one study posted here that right wingers tend to exhibit some of these traits as opposed to liberals?

[AndyTiedye]

43. Everybody is Crazy Except Thee and Me...

...and I'm not too sure about thee

[Ganja Ninja]

44. Reminds me of the old joke.

A man asks his shrink for a diagnosis and the shrink says: "You're crazy." The man is upset by this a says: "I want a second opinion." To this the shrink replies: "OK, You're ugly too."

[Bandit]

39. Some have said they believe it to be a Soviet experiment that effected

a large portion of Americans and that it would last up to forty years. I read this in the mid to late sixties and have considered this often when trying to resolve in my mind what has been happening in America for the last few decades. I think we are almost over it and sanity will return within this decade. But IMHO this country has been totally nuts for a while now.

[jus_the_facts]

40. *feelin' stressed* is NOT mental illness.....

....there is waaaaay too much that's *diagnosed* as *depression* these days....and a LOT of the time it's MISDIAGNOSED as there is never any TESTING done to determine if someone needs to be MEDICATED in the first place....from my own personal experience I can attest to this...after bein' prescribed *anti-depression* medications that left me with EXTREME paranoia....that lasted long after I stopped takin' the meds....so there is a MAJOR difference from bein' *unhappy with life* and bein' CLINICLALLY DEPRESSED....but since the *HEALTH CARE* comunnity is only concerned with pushin' drugs instead of actually helping people....and all the INFUENCE the MEDIA has on dictating how WE FEEL...RE: advertising and their pathetic programming and journalism...when the majority of people are bombarded with images of MURDERS...DEATHS...CONSTANT DECEPTIONS ON ALL LEVELS...it's NO wonder there's not even more extreme MASS hysteria goin' on in our society??? :(

[PATRICK]

49. mammals and stress

This is why heroism is not a normal state of affairs while denial, leisure and dumping stress even in a crisis is. Living in stress when you can't even identify causes and cures if you try, with an overarching establishment denial or distraction means a fog of stress and group huddling, isolation or lashing out. The situation being insane, the truth being denied leads both to isolation from others and flight from the self, hiding in the group and despising the group, dissatisfaction and overreaction in defending the situation anyway.

Fear-anger-depression: symptoms more of living inside an unrecognized inert crisis than fluoride in the water creating male impotence.

Knowledge and action, irony and dedication is a cure available here and elsewhere, thank God.

[hunter]

47. 26% of Americans are too short or too tall...

This is so much nonsense.

If you define "too tall" or "too short" as an illness, where do you draw the lines?

Certainly some people are "too tall" or "too short" owing to some underlying pathology, but most are not.

If a short person can't sit in the front seat of a modern automobile because they can't reach the pedals, and the air bag might kill them, does that mean they are "ill?" If a tall person can't fit in a small automobile does that mean they are "ill?"

The problem with our society is that it has great difficulty accomodating people whose thought processes are not "normal." Do you see that? Nobody wants to be "abnormal" and many "normal" people are very uncomfortable around "abnormal" people.

This doesn't mean we should simply wash our hands of people whose thought processes are so far out in the extreme that they can't take care of themselves, instead it means we have to work harder to find a place in our society for them. Sometimes medication will help, but more often medication seems to be used to adapt people whose thought processes are not particularly extreme to a society that is clearly pathological.