Is Having Mental Health Problems And Depression Becoming Fashionable?

[dave50]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9741927/DR-MAX-PEMBERTON-cool-depression-young-people-latest-accessory.html
Yes there are genuine cases but it seems that everyone and their dog likes to jump on the band wagon. We're no longer allowed feel a bit fed up or upset about things that happen in our day to day life, instead it must mean we have mental health problems or depression. Life is not one long bed of roses, there are ups and downs that we have to endure. The young especially seem to have been convinced that they have mental health problems when of course most of them are suffering no such thing, we shop stop pandering to them.

[Kathyan]

I've been saying this for years. When we were young it was a case of 'get on with it!' Now it seems that everything is down to mental health. Even bereavement is now classed as mental health, which it isn't, it's a natural process that affects everyone.

[pastafreak]

"Mental health" is something we all have to varying degrees. Good and bad...same as physical health.That's whether we can "get on with it", or if we may struggle at times. Thankfully, it's being recognised that we all might need help sometimes and it's ok to seek it. And yes, bereavement can affect your mental health greatly. To deny that is wrong. That it's a 'natural' process, doesn't mean a person can always move forward easily.
As for young people, I think they are always much more vulnerable to thoughts and feelings, just by lack of life experiences. It was the same when we were young...not everyone talked about these things though.

https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health

[burlyshirley]

I agree with you Kathyan.

[wolf63]

Being fed up or upset is normal, everyone suffers from depression.

Clinical Depression, Bipolar Disorder and all the more severe mental health are not pleasant illnesses. This situation is not helped by people who don't accept that it is just another illness.

[chelle7272]

Kathyan -Bereavement is a mental health issue, it is just down to how individuals manage it.
You wouldn't dismiss physical health issues, why mental health?
You break a leg, you have a period of healing, you are bereaved, you have a period of healing.
Some people cope with wither better than others.

[pixie374]

I agree with pasta. Everyone had physical health and mental health problems to different degrees at different times. It's the different degrees that are important though. A cold isn't the same as leukaemia, but still exists.

[pastafreak]

I sought counseling when I lost both my mum and sister 10 months apart. Should I have just soldiered on?
We can say that LIFE is a mental health issue...and we certainly do not all manage it the same way.
But the British attitude has always been to get on with things. But there can be a limit...

[burlyshirley]

I lost my Mum, 17 year old dog and Dad all within 14 months and I really suffered because I was bereaved, I did not see it as a mental illness, nor was it. I coped by talking to friends and anybody who'd listen and I still get sad and depressed over it all. Who said you had to soldier on pasta ??

Kathyann is right.

Too many people jumping on the mental health bandwagon these days.

[Canary42]

To an extent I agree - youngsters today claim to be "devastated" by things which in my youth would be branded "minor anxiety".

It's all a question of degree - and to a certain extent the media are to blame with their ridiculous use of superlatives (such as "heroes", "world-beating", "awesome", etc.) for the most mundane occurrences. People in cyberspace then seek to outdo each other in use of descriptives.

But we must not let this blind us to genuine cases of mental health problems.

[andy-hughes]

Obviously there is far more awareness of what mental illness is now, than there has been in the past, even though a degree of stigma is sadly still involved.

I have said many times on here that the label 'Depression' is wrong, because it becomes confused with 'being depressed' which is not the same thing at all.

My usual comparison is this - if 'being depressed' is spraining your ankle, then 'Depression' is having your foot cut off with a rusty tin lid.

The gulf really is that large, and the difference is that devastating.

I always believe we should have another word, one with the same dreadful ring about it as 'Cancer', which gets you a level of understanding and sympathy that sufferers from 'Depression' rarely experience.

Like a lot of self-examination, temporary mental aberations can be imagined and used for attention-seeking, but it is surely better to indulge someone a little here, than miss a genuine condition that can result in death, there.

I worked as a Samaritan volunteer for three years, and I remember listening as a new member of the team to over an hour to a man, and discussing it with my Leader afterwards.

He listened while I talked through my call, and my feelings about it, and then asked me if I thought the man was makng it up?

I was amazed - it simply never occuured to me that anyone would do that.

The Leaders showed me the man's call record, and sure enough, he was a regular, and was seen not as someone who actually had the issues he talked about, but obviously had issues insofar has he felt he needed to do that.

My Leader then said that getting 'taken in' was an occupational hazard that happens to everyone.

As he said, if you are not taken in now and again, you are not listening properly to what is being presented to you, and you may eventually get to what is behind it.

I think the same applies to the attention-seekers in our society, to use our inability to always know who is genuinely struggling, and who is simply being a drama queen, to get some attention.

But let's face it, a little attention is free, and if we lose a little time, but then actually save someone who does mean it, then that's not a bad use of our time, is it.

[pastafreak]

burlyshirley...what's being said is that we can ALL have our mental health affected by what happens in life. How we cope with bereavement (just an example) is NOT mental illness, which is a negative term. You've admitted that your losses affected you greatly because you had ways to cope. Not everyone does, or can.

I think my impression of British attitudes go back to whrn I first came here. I still see people insisting that someone should "get a grip", or some other language that seems to show a lack of empathy or understanding. But, that's just my point of view, based on my experience/observations.

[Mamyalynne]

I am glad that there is now more a sense of openness about how mental health affects us all and if that means it's in the news more then I'm prepared to accept that as bottling it up and trying to cope alone can sometimes have long term effects and devastating outcomes.

[pixie374]

Andy, I wouldn't even say it is that simple. That's a personal comparison. I was diagnosed with Clinical depression- only because I had Anxiety - which always comes from Depression. I never felt depressed in any way at all- I still very rarely do. I only know I have it because of other symptoms. But Depression is an illness, not a symptom itself.

[pixie374]

The link says students "declaring" it, soared by 450%. But, usually they only ask for diagnosed conditions. Is that really a rise of mis-diagnosis, or are they just listing their favourite conditions?

[sandyRoe]

I think people are more ready to admit that they do have mental health problems. That admission, and subsequent search for help in coping, can be a life saver. Too many people in the past bottled things up until they came to a stage where the only option left was suicide.

[pixie374]

Also, a mixture here, of problems, issues, conditions, illnesses. They all mean something different, so it's worth seeing which word is used.

[rowanwitch]

I wish there was a staging of depression, like other serious diseases, stage one reactive depression to things like loss or life stresses that people will 're over from, often without medication or formal therapy, stage 2. Depression that significantly affects how a person functions day to day, the sort that responds to a course of meds and or counselling. Stage 3. Recurrent or persistent depression that requires long term or lifetime medication and or courses of other therapy. Stage 4. Depression that is resistant to medication, that destroys a person's ability to cope with normal activities.

[pixie374]

I'd range between 1 and 4 then. For no rational reason.

[wolf63]

rowan - some of the psychiatric medications may help - but the side effects can be horrendous. Lithium should be banned.

[rowanwitch]

Sorry posted too soon. Add a A/B/C. For thoughts of self harm, preparation for self harm ( collection of the means, writing notes etc) and at least one attempt of deliberate self harm

Depression can be a terminal condition, suicide, or even refusal to accept treatment for another life threatening condition, it kills a disproportionate number of younger men, teenagers and those with social or addiction problems