America has the highest depression percentage. Why do you think that is?

[coloradodem2005]

My guess is mainly because of materialism in our culture. Our culture is very materialistic.


This was from a discussion I was having with a friend after another friend's death. Why do you think this is true?

[Sweetpea]

1. I think that is a good start.

Also we are bombarded by loads of negative information.

[shance]

57. Thats another good answer, I'll take a shot at it......

hmmm......could it also be we are told we are not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, liked enough, thin enough, will never be complete without this or that product or guy** (or girl**), and are continuously fed all the glittery, loud, sparkly illusions and fantasies of greener pastures, Santa Claus, and home shopping network*

Something I have also thought about is how technology and more specifically, the invention of the car has affected our communities, and a lack of more mass transit, along with the urban sprawl that has ocurred, people in many cities and urban areas have become increasingly disconnected and isolated from one other. Perhaps that is why we have become more dependent on material things. And consequentially, more depressed.

[LiberalTechie1337]

2. It's hard not to be depressed

when you see the idiots we have running this country.

[Tight_rope]

4. ^5 Liberal Techie!

I've always been the kind of person that tries to see the good in everything, even when it's raining cats and dogs. But damnit, this fuckup administration has got me depressed for the first time in my life.

[pinto]

3. advertisement.

[coloradodem2005]

8. Explain.

What about advertisement makes it depressing? Not that I disagree with you.

[pinto]

18. advertisement sets a standard of judgment. not "purple pill" happy?,

you must be depressed...Depressed?, (of course you are), Take this!

Yeah, it's a simplistic answer to my simplistic post.

I don't think Americans are more or less depressed than others. We just mirror ourselves in the advertising world more than others, I believe. And in that reflection, we're a mess.

Haven't read the further posts. Maybe we have more diagnosed depression than other countries, per capita. I just don't think the corollary of material wealth and depression holds true. There's a bigger picture.

I'd rather see a stat about the nature and extent of depression in differing economic groups as a review able standard, not nationality. Or family history as a base comparison. Maybe that's what you're getting at?

[porphyrian]

26. Are We Driving The Ads, Or Are The Ads Driving Us? - n/t

[Cats Against Frist]

47. Ahhhh --- the eternal question

I've always said "chicken," because it seems obvious :)

Seriously, I think it's a measure of both, BUT since it starts, usually before you're old enough to know better -- you're already conditioned by it -- and by the time you get to be a pretty attractive, 30-year-old, size 12, pig-tailed, minimalist, mother of one, in a secure relationship (heh)-- YOU STILL are lured by the idea of the "hot ass big car rich man gold toenail polish," even out of the corner of your eye, no matter how much you tell yourself you don't care, you live your life like you don't care, you don't wash your hair but once a week.

You still have "ghost ads" inside you.

And some people, of course, go through their whole adult lives swallowing it happily, re-drilling it into their nine-year-old GAPper, who is puking up her lunch for Britney.

The ads and the people feed off of each other. I can't remember in advertising history when the first "idealized" ads were created -- I suppose even as far back as "the Medicine Show," in America, at least -- people were trying to sell you things you didn't need, and sensationalizing them, or framing them as NEEDS.

[mountainvue]

73. Anyone see the Reagan

GE ad they showed during his funeral week? It was done in the 50's and extolled the virtues of "electric servants", i.e. GE applicances.

[lostnfound]

5. Feelings of fear and passive powerlessness; also high expectations nt

[Radical Activist]

6. We're also the richest nation

probably a connection there. A society focused on money, wealth and greed will never be happy.

[AndyTiedye]

7. Fascism is Depressing!

so is war, unjust war doubly so
economic depression
having someone else's religion forced on you
seeing our country and your state being robbed blind
seeing our country becoming an object of hate and scorn the world over

[indepat]

64. Right on: the RWers have given us so much to be depressed about

for they are/have been on the wrong side of virtually every major issue since at least the 1920s, now have control of all the levers of power of government, are bankrupting this nation, taking us to endless wars, and are on the verge of destroying freedom and itself by making a mockery of our Constitution and all our founding principles in order to install a corporatist, theological totalitarian police state. What is more depressing are the large numbers of ignorant, apathetic, brain-dead, and brainwashed people who support them.

[jobendorfer]

9. I think you're on the right track

My own $.02 on the prevalence of depression:

First: can you aim us at data that shows the prevalence
of depression comparatively, across North America and
Europe? That would be interesting to look at.

Second: some of the depression can be explained by
physiology, i.e., the biochemical mechanisms that
regulate and influence mood are not functioning correctly.
Please note the "some" in that sentence -- some,
but by no means all (or even most).

Third: the notion of materialism as a cause is close,
but not quite there (in my so very humble opinion).
Rather, I think there's a dualism at work -- the matter/
spirit dichotomy. Western civilization has been oscil-
lating between the poles of spiritualism (hit its peak
in the middle ages) and materialism (hit its peak last
century in logical positivism, rationalism, etc.)

What's missing is the middle ground between matter and
spirit: psyche. That part of us that transforms events
into experiences, creates meaning out of our life stories.
That's where the numinous and the energizing, animating
presences live. Without it ... we either soar off into
the stratosphere, waiting for the afterlife, or we bog
down in the pits of existential despair.

I think we, as a culture, have lost our connection to the
numinous. For us, the world is no longer alive, and so we, in
turn, are not animated. Hillman once noted that we no longer
capitalize words that capture animated concepts -- Nature,
Justice, hell, even Reason -- that style of imagining has
all but died out. The two conceptual words still capitalized
in english are "I" and "God" -- and some say God is dead.

For folks interested in reading about this stuff in more
detail, I'd recommend James Hillman's _Revisioning Psychology_
or Moore's _A Blue Fire_.

Be interesting to see what other folks think.

J.

[LifeDuringWartime]

22. some interesting points

especially about capitalization. hunter s. thompson always capitalizes Fear, and i think other words sometimes. it creates a much more profound effect.

[Leilani]

10. Americans are ambitious...

also mobile...many have no deep roots.

Families are spread all over the country, & there is little sense of extended family anymore. Isolation causes depression.

Also, Americans work longer hours than other industrialized societies, leaving little time for family or leisure. This leads to stress & stress leads to depression.

[kimchi]

54. Good point - isolation.

I was thinking of this the other day. My husband was shocked that I offered to quit my job and care for his mother, because she refused a nursing home. He was under the impression that "white people" don't value families as much as Asians, and he has a point.

I'm too young to remember whole families living together, but darn it--it just seems like the natural course of things. You also benefit from the experience of your elders, and even have an experienced babysitter, if the grandparent isn't too old.

It is well known that seniors who keep active and have social lives live longer and are happier. The phrase "he/she lives for the grandchildren" has much truth.

[progressivebydesign]

11. Materialism, debt, and pursuit of supercial things.. N/T

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

12. Forgive me, but

do you have a link to that study? Is this clinical depression? Chemical? Psychological?

What nations are involved in the study?

I don't doubt it, but I'd like more info.

[coloradodem2005]

15. I wish I could.

The friend told me about the study. He said that the highest percentage was here with 23% and the lowest was Uganda at 2.4%. So I don't have a link, sadly.

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

20. I guess there are two ways of looking at it:

1) life is a curse.
2) life is a blessing.

I'd think that a country as used to death as Uganda, then life is very much thought of as a blessing. Here, we think of it as a curse and attempt to keep it at bay.


http://www.aboutsudan.com/issues/biological_holocaust/mortality_rates_rising_in_africa.htm

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/uganda_statistics.html

[nuxvomica]

43. Here's a link on a WHO study

This report considers all mental illness, not just depression:

Overall, the survey of more than 60,000 adults in 14 countries showed a 27% rate of mental disorders in the U.S. population for a list of diseases. That list includes: depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and substance abuse. The U.S. rate was substantially higher than that of any other country measured, including other industrialized nations such as Belgium, which showed a 12% illness rate.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/88/99740.htm

I think substance abuse put us over the top. Of course, that's related to depression as well.

[Jim Warren]

13. It's an important question

One that is little asked and almost always remains unanswered. I think it might be a little too close to home for many.

For many years my life was divided between the US and an impoverished third world country. It still is somewhat in that my wife is from there and we visit the in-laws infrequently now but when we can. The thing that always struck me, kind of reverse culture shock, on returning after an extended stay was the seeming unhappiness and discontent of people here in the land of plenty. There is a sterility and isolation, an uncomfortableness that exists in the land of the free and it hit me quite unawares every time for a good week after returning.

[gate of the sun]

14. I agree it's probably materialism

and it isin't just junior home waiting for MOM and Dad. It's the fact that what he gets is things instead of his parents and he learns that valuable lesson that "things" matter more than he does. It's the fact that MOM and Dad hate what they are doing but after all they are trying to live the American dream but alas that dream is all about debt. There is no escaping this dream, and the dream catches up in payments.

Then for other people it's about never making it and they work and work and all they can do is put food on the table and pay the rent. Don't get sick now.

There is one other reason and that's subconscious. It's the fact that we use more resources trying to become happy and we use and allow our government to use others and even kill others to keep our engine running.

We live in a lie, we live a life full of falsehoods. I could go on and on about the reasons but the fact remains our lovely country isin't making us happy no more.

[PurityOfEssence]

16. Only winners matter, and winning is nigh impossible, hence demoralization

One can't admit failure in this country; it's the best system that's ever existed. As the eighties taught us, if you're not making it here, it's because you're defective: lazy, stupid, sub-standard, shiftless, or just plain inferior.

Slam this smack-dab up against the creeping glacier of impenetrable cheesy flag-waving and reveling in excess, and you have depression. Don't ever admit weakness, either: emotional problems are proof of your inferiority. It's a blustering tough-guy society, and those who can't take it don't deserve much at all.

Is it any wonder that the country with the greatest disparity in wealth in the industrialized world AND the highest rate of belief in supreme beings also has the highest rate of insanity? Not to me.

Depression? Feh. Some would just call it prescience.

How do you square reality with fantasy and still keep an even keel?

[coloradodem2005]

21. Hit the nail right on the head.

[belle]

29. Yep. It's the double bind of impossible standards.

Someone had an interesting take on the materialism angle--words to the effect that the problem wasn't that we were too materialistic, but rather that we weren't materialistic *enough.* which sounds really Randian, until you realize that the author didn't in fact mean we should be grubbing after more money and status symbols, but should be more attuned to the simpler pleasures of the body: that's *real* materialism. Food, sex, movement, sensuality, rest. Money in fact is not "material;" it's a symbol, especially after a certain point. (Does it really matter whether you have 2 billion or 3 billion dollars? Is it ultimately any different from playing a video game and collecting "points?") The trouble is that people are unconscious of this; they call themselves "realists" when in fact they're trying, vainly, to get something from money that really isn't about money at all. So ultimately it's about a lack of genuine spirituality as well. We call money "reality" and unconsciously make it into a god. It doesn't work as either.

And yeah, the business about "winners" is really key. "Win what?" people should ask.

Also, I think the car culture (among other things) makes us increasingly isolated from each other, which definitely is a factor in depression.

[VOX]

34. Precisely. And thus it makes no sense to *not* be depressed!

Excellent analysis, POE.

[PurityOfEssence]

58. Hey, that's what I tell people to cheer them up

You're right: life sucks; at least your perception's intact...

(Of course, I don't think it sucks, I just think you have to recognize and embrace the suckiness so it doesn't sap the fun stuff of its joy.)

[devilgrrl]

17. Our society is really shallow...

we can't live up to our own expectations. This topic reminds me of this song by Sam Phillips...

Power World

look at how they've washed your brain
down the info t.v. drain
you're back before you ever came
to find out what you need

you try too hard, you try too soft
you're afraid of getting lost
as impostor number one
you left your record out in the sun

all the signs of life aren't clear and straight and always right

our ideas of perfect are so imperfect

love doesn't pay attention to
the metal teeth of ugly rules
he was everybody's fool
for squandering his love on her

all the signs of life aren't clear and straight and always right

our ideas of perfect are so imperfect

Thomas when you told the truth
they electrocuted you
I'll pick up my zero and follow through
the perfect power world

all the signs of life aren't clear and straight and always right

our ideas of perfect are so imperfect

[wtmusic]

19. Highest rate of proper diagnosis

all there is to it.

[serryjw]

23. Some interesting facts

suicide rate in Industrialized countries tend to have a higher suicide rate than poor, developing countries.....Why? It obviously has nothing to do with soci-economics. The more money we make the less we are connected to our friends and family and the simple pleasures of life.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/sui_fact.htm
We have the highest divorse rate in industrialized nations. Again we are not connected to other people. Its all about materialism

BTW An interesting footnote to this study was the discovery of a strong correlation between the rates of suicide and divorce. In the great majority of the cities we investigated, those areas with a high percentage of divorced residents was matched with a high suicide rate. And the opposite was true as well... places with few divorces also had few suicides.

http://www.bestplaces.net/stress/stress_study1.asp

[YoQuieroLiberty]

24. I thought it was Sweden...

or maybe they just have higher suicide rates? I'm not sure. What sort of depression?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

71. I thought I read that Sweden actually does not have the world's highest

suicide rate, although it is high. I believe that dubious honor belongs to Hungary.

Back in the Goldwater era, conservatives used to point to Sweden's high suicide rate as an indictment of democratic socialism, and by extension, Johnson's Great Society programs.

They conveniently left out the fact that Norway, with social programs very similar to Sweden's, has one of the world's lowest suicide rates.

[unkachuck]

25. I think general depression....

comes (at least in me) from a sense of helplessness.....we go to work and are expected to produce more than can be done in the alotted time with less resources than are necessary to adequately do the job....

....we come home to children who are continually being indoctrinated by a culture that has little more than superficiality and materialism to offer....we neither trust nor associate much with our neighbors while focusing on our differences and seldom seeing the sameness....

....we pay lip-service to faith and only truly trust in the almighty dollar.....and down deep we realize there is very little we can personally do about our lives that doesn't cost more than we are willing to pay....

edit: for spelling

[BOOGEX]

27. Values

i read a book a while ago. i think it was called "plato, not prozac," or something like that. it made the point that philosophy is good medicine for helping people work through external causes of depression (not chemical causes). anyway, i've always felt like the average american has very little free time. i don't have any stats to back up that claim, but maybe somebody here does. i just noticed it in friends, family, and coworkers. most of the people i meet have very demanding lives with work and/or school, commuting to and from work and/or school, maintaining a home, raising the kids, and still trying to find time just to relax.

it seems to me that the demands of daily living take up the majority of one's mental faculties. with so little time to think about something other than trying to survive, how can anyone really develop a philosophy to live by? it takes a lot of time to be able to examine one's own life, and to truly understand one's self, to sort out all of one's complex emotions. i think that not having a solid philosophical foundation can make a person more susceptible to the stresses of life, and maybe lead to depression. i remember reading somewhere that americans have the least free time of any country in the world. we work longer hours than any other nation, and we have the fewest vacation days. many people are even afraid to use the few vacation days they do get out of fear that they won't look as good to their boss than somebody who never takes vacation. could it be that a lack of time makes it more difficult for a person to understand their life and thus makes a person more prone to being depressed?

[newyawker99]

44. Hi BOOGEX!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[BOOGEX]

65. Thanks!

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm glad to be here. :)

[playahata1]

49. Welcome to DU! And you have hit it right on the head.

The name of the game is indeed everyday survival. However, what constitutes "everyday survival" is relative.

Some people require more than others to survive. Others less. In other words, for Person A, a one-bedroom apartment, a car that runs well enough to get you to and from work, and a decent paying job is enough; for person B, s/he's gotta have the 5 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath McMansion in Shady Oaks subdivision, drive an SUV, have the kids involved in ballet and soccer, and draw a salary of at least the high five figures, in order to feel that s/he has her/his head above water -- even if s/he has maxed out his/her credit cards in the process.

As for who may be more or less depressed, it depends. Person A may be made to feel he is lacking because he does not have what Person B has. Or Person A may feel that he does not need a whole bunch of crap in order to feel that he measures up; he may wonder why the hell must he weigh and measure himself against anyone, period. Person B may be driven to get more, more, more, and when she doesn't, she's made to feel like a failure. Or Person B may feel that all this striving and acquiring isn't making her feel whole.

This reads rather awkwardly, but that is my take on this topic. Peace.

[JSJ]

28. murderer's remorse n/t

[undergroundpanther]

30. America

Has very high rates of child abuse,bullying,and authoritarianism.
Bullying can crush your heart.Trauma from parents,from peers at school,bullies,bosses,bad relationships,all can hurt and the way your brain itself works ,it delays healing and conscious remembering,It does this so that you can get on with your life and cope to survive at that moment.It brings neurosis and pain in your life when the coping mechanisms from long ago follow you into the now..After traumas whether you know why or not,you are still wounded by it,and the emotional pain is just not conscious.You have this vague anxiety or sadness about something you just can't grasp..as to why. Alot of people suffer from symptoms like this,the saddest thing is people who have been traumatized often do not realize they have been traumatized,because they believe some of the bullshit abusive people or authoritarians say to them and they've redefined trauma to fit a definition that is not their own invalidates their own experiences of what hurts them. A bully,a narcissist or authoritarian has no business telling a person who has been hurt by these kinds of people and the bad relationships they cause that their emotional pain is not severe enough to warrant consideration,help,compassion or healing.

A man with a knife stabs someone...who has the right to say how bad the damage is?

The perpetrator cannot say how bad it hurt,because he was not stabbed
The knife can't either it isn't hurt either.
The blood on the ground can't..because it's not inside the person who was hurt anymore..

Only the person screaming on the ground with the wound in his side is qualified to say how bad it hurt to be stabbed.

Funny how our culture listens to the bullies explanations and excuses the bully,or even worse identifies with bullies and "shoots the messenger" manipulates,dehumanizes or discredits them.
Our society listens to knives opinions(experts)
Or the blood on the ground(references,neighbors,family members,anyone but the actual victim telling what it feels like,what happened..)
It's uncanny how we fail to listen to the hurt person himself,the only one who is hurt ...and in pain.. instead we seek to ignore,distract ,silence,deny or minimize his story of his experiences.

No wonder we are as a society depressed.
Abuse is wrong, bullying is wrong, be it sexual,emotional,physical,financial,psychological,or verbal abuses.
The choice to harm someone who is not harming you is a choice.A choice that is excused far too much in our bully enabling "weakness" fearing competitive shallow, status obsessed,terribly insecure and in denial culture.

[leftofthedial]

31. it's my fault

I'm depressed all the time

plus I'm a songwriter

So I write really depressing songs

But people really like them and listen to them

Then they get depressed too

that bums me out and makes me depressed

[REP]

32. Is This True?

I don't think it is; I think Finland has the highest rate of suicide per capita.

We are living in a time where everything is now a disease: shyness, being an asshole, etc. I don't think the rate of depression is up; I think the rate of people who have some symptoms of a hard to pin-down-illness that is depression (really - what is the line between grief, sadness and depression? Is depression ever an appropriate emotional response? What IS normal? What is happy?) and pharmaceutical companies lining up to make a dollar on those who might have a self-limiting depression, or one that responds to talk therapy, or one that requires them to do something, like change jobs or get out of a crappy relationship. Throwing pills at the problem is a symptom of the current American Way of Life.

Most people are forced by necessity to live rather unsatisfactory lives - working at a job that means nothing other than a paycheck, doing something pointless and eating tons of shit to keep the meaningless job, eating crappy food because they're too tired after working all day at the crappy job to fix a decent meal; never getting enough rest; recreation either involves acquiring more consumer goods or staring at flickering lights on the TV, etc etc etc. It's easier to take a pill than ask the hard questions about "why am I living this way?" and of course, our economy is based on the soul-dead pill-popping salary-man.

This is not say that depression is not a real illness - it is, and a terrible one. Many people do benefit from antidepressants, and when used appropriately by people who really need them, they can help a person get out of the dead-soul routine, or at least enable them to find ways to add meaning and even joy to their lives.

[rman]

33. poverty is depressing;

In the words of Parenti:

"It's very simple:
Almost the entire world is capitalist.
And almost the entire world is poor.

Capitalist Indonesia is miserably poor, and getting poorer.
Capitalist India is miserably poor, and getting poorer.
And Thailand, and Nigeria and El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, Brazil,
Argentina, Russia, Poland, Bulgaria.

With all the privatization and deregulation and free market coming in; poverty. Poverty increasing, crime increasing and desperation increasing and missery increasing, and homelesness increasing, and suicides increasing..."

you could add to that list
I'v heard the US has the worst infant mortality of al western nations. And I'd say depression fits nicely in that list as well.

(Btw, the only reason why in the west capitalism has brough some wealth to the masses, is the social-democratic / labour movement. It's thanks to the people that there are some regulations that prevent the distribution of wealth to be even more unequal then it is in the west.)

[quinnox]

35. Americans are 16th happiest according to this -

from New Scientist magazine. Just thought it might be interesting for some perspective. I don't believe the premise of the thread is accurate, but by all means if people want to believe Americans are the most depressed I have no quarrel. But in my experience from simple observation when out in public most people seem to be pretty happy, but that may be because I live in a beautiful part of the country (Pacific North West).

"Nigerians happiest, Americans 16th
Survey says Russians, Eastern Europeans the unhappiest

Reuters
LONDON, Oct. 1 — People in Latin America, Western Europe and North America are happier than their counterparts in Eastern Europe and Russia, according to a British study. An analysis of levels of happiness in more than 65 countries by the World Values Survey shows Nigeria has the highest percentage of happy people followed by Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rico, while Russia, Armenia and Romania have the fewest."

http://www.msnbc.com/news/974827.asp?cp1=1

[opihimoimoi]

36. Anger Level Way outta whack

Too much whinning, controling, etc resulting in mass frustrations, etc.

[mountainvue]

75. Have to agree with you there.

I am blessed not to have to drive as much as I used to for work and when I do now, I realize how pissed off people really are.

[IndianaGreen]

37. The electoral choices this November?

A 2-party system in which both parties are prowar is depressing enough for me!

I wish we had an American version of the UK's Liberal Democrats, and proportional representation.

[Michael_UK]

38. de Tocqueville noted it 200 years ago

I could be wrong, but I think de Tocqueville wrote about this 200 years ago in "Democracy in America". He wrote that although the average american was materially better off than europeans at the time, their expectations and pursuit of material goods made many less happy. It seems Europeans expected to be poor, and thus didn't get depressed when they were.

I think he essentially wrote that Americans had a larger gulf between expectation and achievement - and I suppose that is still true today

[jpgray]

39. Americans are fat, dumb, and materialistic

Hard not to be depressed with those characteristics.

[Mr.Green93]

40. They realize the country is a sham built on death,deceit and destruction

[Citizen Daryl]

41. Empty materialism and the prospect of a bleak future.

Those are the two biggest, IMHO.

Christmastime is the biggest downer in the world for me.

Second biggest downer is seeing food wasted at Chinese buffets. I think of the people who bus the tables at these restaurants, and I know that many of them are first-generation Americans. I'm sure that many of them knew the importance of not wasting anything, and to have to toss away so many plates of uneaten food ... I can't even call the people who leave that much food "pigs" because even pigs will eat every last bite.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

42. too much introspection...

I think that is the primary cause. People spend too much time analyzing their own lives and find them lacking. They see that the world presented to them by popular media only accepts material success and physical beauty as worthy. And when they realize that they have a shortcoming in that (or some other arena) they spend years going through analysis (self and external) and naturally, if you don't like yourself, and all you do is LOOK at yourself, that will be depressing.

theProdigal

[GreenArrow]

45. money doesn't buy happiness

the old cliche is true.

Additionally, in an image concious society like ours, false fronts are par for the course. People are dishonest with themselves, and on some level, they realize it.

[Cats Against Frist]

46. You mean we're beating the Eastern bloc countries, now?

They have, by far, the highest suicide rates in the world, which is a measure of depression, I guess.

I agree with most people -- it is definitely consumerist culture, the isolation associated with it, the shame and powerlessness you're made to feel from not being rich/thin/beautiful/successful, etc.

I think continuing idealization of romantic love has a lot to do with it, too, and I think we've isolated the "individual family home" from community and extended family -- (which was of course, necessary for the individualistic consumer impulse).

[Delano]

48. Less vacation time than other countries, healthcare insecurity...

The debt required to maintain the American "lifestyle" weighs hard on many.

I avoid people with very materialistic values, anyway, so I don't feel the pressure as much. I'm sure my kids will at school though.

I think I'm the last person with no cell phone. I could afforrd one, BUT I DON'T WANT IT! I don't want to be contacted anywhere I go, and the urge to talk to somebody very seldom strikes me when I'm out and about.

I dread the day when my work requires me to get one of those things.

[playahata1]

50. You are not alone as far as cell phones go.

I do not have one, and I wouldn't want one if I could afford one. I don't want people calling me at all places, at all hours, either. I have few friends, so no one would call me -- and why would I need to be on the phone all the damn time, anyway?

My feeling is that most people who own cell phones have them just to say that they have them. I also feel that most people who own cell phones have them because having one makes them look important, makes what they do (or say they do) seem important. It's called KEEPING UP APPEARANCES.

[juslikagrzly]

53. According to the DSM, we're all "sick"

First-time poster,j ust found the site and really really feel at home!

Anyway, as a mental health professional (whatever THAT is) and academic, here is MHO:

The "pursuit of happiness" has been turned upside down and now reads "the right to be happy". The business of mental health has joined with the advertising/media/corporate/insurance conglomerate that we call America and convinced many of us that life is now a problem, to be diagnosed, cured, and of course--charged for! Just check out the editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM). Each new edition is fatter and more comprehensive than the last. Smoking is a "disorder", being a mildly crotchety type of person is a "disorder". There is generally no social context to these "disorders"--so what if you work two minimum wage jobs, leaving your children in the care of neighbors because you can't afford ANY daycare let alone decent daycare, *live* in a rundown crappy housing project, walk to work because you can't afford the great American dream car and your city has no public transportation. If you're unhappy with that great life you have, make an appointment at the local community health center and we'll give you a little pill and you'll feel better.

There is a weird, scary movement in our country to squish everything/everyone toward the mean. No eccentricity allowed!

Well, rant over and I feel better now. Thanks for such a great forum.

[playahata1]

66. Welcome to DU!

:)

[Djinn]

67. Welcome to DU juslikagrzly

:hi:

I've often wondered this myself (Australia also has high incidences of depression and other mood disorders) I think it's a combination of the things everyone's said here (we're a smart bunch - post this question at freepville and the response would be "too many libruls" or "no prayer at school") and also that we have too much therapy.

I might be way off base but for me sitting in a room telling a stranegr all the things that are wrong with your life means you're dwelling on it and stewing over it. I've only seen a counsellor once -even though I'm probably a prime candidate and quite a moody and anxious person - and it made me feel worse, for me I feel better if I've got something to occupy myself with something/someone other than myself to think about.

A friend of mines mother has been seeing two shrinks and been hospitalised repeatedly for the last ten years and I swear she's getting worse. Just my 2 cents

[Cat Atomic]

51. The slow erosion of hope caused by the culture of fear.

If you spend decades manipulating people with, getting them to afraid of the world, and each other.... they're isolated.

But there are plenty of other practical things, too.

From a steadily decreasing standard of living, to a culture-wide feeling of impotence in the face of corporate government. Voting doesn't even seem to matter, as evidenced by the 2001 election.

[TWiley]

52. American Christianity is the problem

Christians are the least happy of all Orthodox religions. Buddhists and Muslims are the happiest.

In America, Christianity is a religion that has been hijacked by racist republicans who are willing to kill or maim anything to make a buck. They have no genuine religious insight at all.

If a person does not endorse their bull shit, then they are attacked relentlessly by the A-Holies.

Among folks who have a genuine spiritual connection, this creates a frustrating dilemma which results in uncertainty and depression.

[Lorien]

55. Affluenza

http://www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza/
Af-flu-en-za n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1576751996/002-3262073-9230404?v=glance
Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
In their eye-opening, soul-prodding look at the excess of American society, the authors of Affluenza include two quotations that encapsulate much of the book: T.S. Eliot's line "We are the hollow men / We are the stuffed men," which opens one of this book's chapters, and a quote from a newspaper article that notes "We are a nation that shouts at a microwave oven to hurry up." If these observations make you grimace at your own ruthless consumption or sigh at the hurried pace of your life, you may already be ill. Read on.
The definition of affluenza, according to de Graaf, Wann, and Naylor, is something akin to "a painful, contagious, socially-transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more." It's a powerful virus running rampant in our society, infecting our souls, affecting our wallets and financial well-being, and threatening to destroy not only the environment but also our families and communities. Having begun life as two PBS programs coproduced by de Graaf, this book takes a hard look at the symptoms of affluenza, the history of its development into an epidemic, and the options for treatment. In examining this pervasive disease in an age when "the urge to splurge continues to surge," the first section is the book's most provocative. According to figures the authors quote and expound upon, Americans each spend more than $21,000 per year on consumer goods, our average rate of saving has fallen from about 10 percent of our income in 1980 to zero in 2000, our credit card indebtedness tripled in the 1990s, more people are filing for bankruptcy each year than graduate from college, and we spend more for trash bags than 90 of the world's 210 countries spend for everything. "To live, we buy," explain the authors--everything from food and good sex to religion and recreation--all the while squelching our intrinsic curiosity, self-motivation, and creativity. They offer historical, political, and socioeconomic reasons that affluenza has taken such strong root in our society, and in the final section, offer practical ideas for change. These use the intriguing stories of those who have already opted for simpler living and who are creatively combating the disease, from making simple habit alterations to taking more in-depth environmental considerations, and from living lightly to managing wealth responsibly.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

56. The disparity between the "official line" and what we know

deep down to be true.

The mass media tell us that this is the greatest country in the world and that everyone living everywhere else in the world is dying to come here, that America always has the world's best interests at heart, that buying a trophy mansion and an SUV constitutes the American dream, that athletic victory is the greatest thing a young person can aspire to, that you should eat a lot of junk food and drive everywhere but be both skinny and well-muscled, that knowing the details of the lives of celebrities is more important than knowing who your neighbors are, that men are supposed to be macho, that women are supposed to be perfect housewives and corporate executives, that people who are unlike you are dangerous, and that all problems can be solved in an hour with everyone standing around and laughing at the end.

None of this is true, but everywhere we look, the TV, movies, and magazines are telling us to believe these things. We may have the trophy mansion and the SUV, the perfect bod, the children on the all-state team, and all that other stuff, and yet we know deep down that it isn't what we really want or need. But everyone else seems happy and is echoing the conventional wisdom from the mass media, so it means that we're crazy.

I'm extrapolating from my own experiences of depression, each of which occurred when I was living someone else's idea of what I should be.

[vetwife]

59. We have never seen things as they are today in America and Bush

has created a media, cultural, job losing, fat cat, greedy , warmongering country. He has never been a success at anything in his life and this dismal failure has costs lives, money, and hope !
Every single person who is not rolling in money or if they are and have a conscience hurts to see the destruction not made by the so called terrorists., But by a Cheerleading, divisive, bloodthirsty, secret governement. That alone should make everyone get off their rumps and tell people they are losing their country. These people have no use for children, the elderly, veterans, disabled, or anyone who makes less than a million dollars and not even then if you are not a saluter to King Bush. Religion, not faith has become Big Show Business and God is perceived as an apostle for Bush. Bush has hijacked my faith, my country and my flag and bullied the others or demanded they lock step to his tune. If that is patriotism. Then Call me unpatriotic because I cannot worship a symbol made on a cloth in China and run up a flag pole made in India while people have forgotten Bush is neither God or America.

[Jacobin]

60. I've thought about that a lot

There are several reasons, I think:

1. Suburbia, where many americans live is a lifeless plain, with neighbors who rarely know each other. Cities or towns with old neighborhoods where sidewalks and neighborhood gathering place build a sense of community and togetherness.

2. TV is what most people do when they go home from work. Its crass sensationalism smushed between marketing to make you think you aren't good or good enough unless you buy some new thing or another. You go out and buy the new thing and your still watching TV the next night with no interpersonal relationships that are meaningful.

3. Hectic pace of life is expected at work and play, with no time for reflection or meaningful relationships. Stress is thought to be normal and it takes its toll on the synapses. We are always in a fight or flight mode because of extremes of stress, which fucks up brain chemistry.

4. Spirituality/Reflection is basically either laughed at, ignored, or turned into some meaningless and stupid exercise as formalized religion which tends to be either dry and without substance, or some souped up whizzbang, going to hell unless you convert the world crazed madness.

5. We are encouraged to "live for the day" to get the latest toys and the latest car and vacation which is marketed as the means to "happiness" which it isn't.

Of course, many don't fall into the above traps and one is perfectly able to avoid many of those pitfalls and have a happy and meaningful live that is fulfilling and pleasant. However, all the roads to a happy life are filled with the above pitfalls in this country and you have to go out of your way, and against the mainstream to achieve some peace and happiness.

Madison Avenue is the major culprit. Education is the key to surviving in America.

[Lorien]

62. Very good points

I would also add that celebrity worship isn't healthy. In our society, you are nobody unless you are either rich or famous (and it's better if you're both). Of those I've known that have attained fame and riches, it often comes at a price. Their friends, family, and co-workers are more likely to tear them down out of envy; wanting to see the mighty laid low (just look at the glee over Martha Stewarts misfortunes). Like having more "stuff", it's a life that, once attained, doesn't always bring the promised happiness. Happiness can usually be found in; a. ) time spent with friends and loved ones, b.) time spent with nature, C.) doing what you find personally/ creatively fulfilling. Only the third option is encouraged in our society, and it's often discouraged if the activity doesn't involve the pursuit of money.

[Commendatori]

61. Because of the drug industry

People are bombarded with ads for depression drugs, and nowadays seeing your favorite baseball team blow a late lead can lead to what "experts" call "depression." Throw in the fact that there's no country that's quicker to run to a shrink when things aren't going well, and you've got a whole bunch of "depressed" people that drug companies are ready and eager to rob blind.

Remember: "Ask your doctor if ... is right for you."

[info being]

63. Buy a copy of Adbusters magazine

Or go to your local library. Very relevant to this topic.

[Zorra]

68. Bu$h and the hoplessness he spreads everywhere. n/t

[blurp]

69. Mostly old white men

What is it about old, white, and male that makes such people most likely to kill themselves?

Materialism in our society? That just doesn't seem to explain it.

[camero]

70. The king of the mountain American Dream

Which is out of the reach of many. The middle class are downsized and become poor. The poor are shut out and made to feel that their problems are their own fault when the main problem is the theft by the wealthy from the poor and middle class. While the poor and middle class fight each other over the crumbs that are left.

The first act of all wars is to demoralize your enemy and the wealthy are very good at doing that.

[mountainvue]

72. Watch MTV for an hour or any

other program geared at the target audience. We're all supposed to be rich, beautiful and have all the right stuff like Louis Vuitton bags or the new Mercedes that just came out.
We are continually told to look for the false happiness. Hell, IMO, Oprah Winfrey does it on her show all the time. Do this or that and you will be happy. People then start thinking, 'Gee I must not be happy.'
We're constantly bombarded with the message that we are not good enough.
We have too many choices and we often don't know how to handle them.

[Valerie5555]

74. Wondered if it was LOWER 10 years ago since the guy in charge exuded

hope and optimism while Bush just exuded despair and pessimism.

[Kimber Scott]

76. I think it's because Paxil has such a high profit margin.

Or, could be the hamster wheel lifestyle. Or, both. I vote for both.

[SoCalDem]

77. Two things come to mind

[nonkultur]

78. Flouride, Chemtrails, and Electro Magnetic interference from radio waves.

Also a lack of snug tin foil hats.