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The relation between Americans and depression/anxiety is really bizarre. Their mental health complex/industry seems really dysfunctional from outside. Perhaps l

by kome 9y ago

The relation between Americans and depression/anxiety is really bizarre. Their mental health complex/industry seems really dysfunctional from outside. Perhaps like the rest of their healthcare...

PaulHoule 9y ago
Actually benzodiazepine addiction is perceived to be a particularly bad problem in the UK. There is a clinic in Is real that treats a large number of Israelis who allegedly wrecked their nervous system with LSD and are now unfit for the IDF. A clinic in Poland is always treating drunks who drank too much 1-propanol. Benzodiazepines deliver fast relief from anxiety but they interfere with learning and memory. Naturally people can learn how to deal with problems better and maybe therapy can speed up that process. Benzodiazepines throw a monkey wrench into that, but antidepressants do not. That article has a social context on that the news media is benefitting enormously from trump because people keep reading and watching to see what crazy thing trump will say next. CNN might be negative on trump, but the massive coverage they gave him, driven by a quest for ratings, made him more credible than the other republicans.
- rdtsc 9y ago
  > CNN might be negative on trump, but the massive coverage they gave him, driven by a quest for ratings, made him more credible than the other republicans That's kinda my thinking. CNN went so far in backing one candidate and ignoring or negatively covering the others, that if I didn't know any better would have thought they colluded with Trump. That is, by their obvious bias and seeming obsession with Trump, reporting about how many scoops of ice creams he eats, the whole Russia this Russia that narrative, saying stupid stuff like "don't read these documents, it's illegal, come to us for interpretation" they pushed people away and are making Trump look credible.
benevol 9y ago
> Their mental health complex/industry seems really dysfunctional from outside. Most definitely. But it's just a reflection of how much American culture values money/power/domination. US health-care is simply dominated by a ferocious version of capitalism (which of course includes an overdose of corruption).
TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
The quality of life for most Americans is on the decline, hence why political extremists on both sides were nearly elected(For those outside the US, yes, Sanders is considered an extremist in this country). Workers work more, make less, get treated less well by their employers, have less stability, and simply don't have much free time. Socially, America is losing their identity due to a spreading mentality that social norms are bad for us. We spend time with other people less, have fewer close relationships, and find trouble spending much time with our kids because both parents work. Those who move to big cities from rural areas because the cities are the only places rising economically right now find that they lose the social support and child-rearing support that families provide, but there's not much they can do about that if they want to be okay financially. College is seen as the only avenue of getting out of that rat-race, but with ballooning schooling costs and large time and mental requirements to complete it, it's becoming an option for fewer and fewer people... Then when you do graduate, you're still paid significantly less than graduates 10 years ago. On top of all this, there isn't even healthcare stability. Costs for care and medication are ballooning so high so fast, but it's not like we can do anything about it. Healthcare is a necessity. If you're poor, can't afford insurance, and find yourself with a cut, broken bone, or god forbid cancer, you can't even be sure you'll be able to get care. With all of this instability, insecurity, and declining quality of life for most, it's only natural that anxiety and depression would be on the rise.
- CalRobert 9y ago
  It's remarkable, having moved to the EU, to note that most people I know older than their mid-40's can't imagine moving away from the US, and most people younger than that can't imagine moving to the US (with the exception of those who want to chase the startup life in SF). A month off a year is pretty nice. I can't imagine going back to a couple weeks a year, or getting guilted for not answering emails on weekends.
  - TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
    If you got a couple weeks off a year in the US, you were better off than most[1]. Plus we don't get other basics like maternity or paternity leave. > most people I know older than their mid-40's can't imagine moving away from the US, and most people younger than that can't imagine moving to the US This points out a big generational divide. There are tons of people doing just fine in the US right now, but they were mostly grandfathered in. The number of jobs available has not been growing with our population, mostly because exploiting globalization and automation are much cheaper ways of growing a company. It's obviously getting to the point that it's creating social instability, though. [1] https://gusto.com/framework/health-benefits/paid-vacation-time-how-do-you-stack-up/ https://gusto.com/framework/health-benefits/paid-vacation-ti...
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

by kome 9y ago

The relation between Americans and depression/anxiety is really bizarre. Their mental health complex/industry seems really dysfunctional from outside. Perhaps like the rest of their healthcare...

PaulHoule 9y ago

Actually benzodiazepine addiction is perceived to be a particularly bad problem in the UK. There is a clinic in Is real that treats a large number of Israelis who allegedly wrecked their nervous system with LSD and are now unfit for the IDF. A clinic in Poland is always treating drunks who drank too much 1-propanol. Benzodiazepines deliver fast relief from anxiety but they interfere with learning and memory. Naturally people can learn how to deal with problems better and maybe therapy can speed up that process. Benzodiazepines throw a monkey wrench into that, but antidepressants do not. That article has a social context on that the news media is benefitting enormously from trump because people keep reading and watching to see what crazy thing trump will say next. CNN might be negative on trump, but the massive coverage they gave him, driven by a quest for ratings, made him more credible than the other republicans.

rdtsc 9y ago
> CNN might be negative on trump, but the massive coverage they gave him, driven by a quest for ratings, made him more credible than the other republicans That's kinda my thinking. CNN went so far in backing one candidate and ignoring or negatively covering the others, that if I didn't know any better would have thought they colluded with Trump. That is, by their obvious bias and seeming obsession with Trump, reporting about how many scoops of ice creams he eats, the whole Russia this Russia that narrative, saying stupid stuff like "don't read these documents, it's illegal, come to us for interpretation" they pushed people away and are making Trump look credible.

benevol 9y ago

> Their mental health complex/industry seems really dysfunctional from outside. Most definitely. But it's just a reflection of how much American culture values money/power/domination. US health-care is simply dominated by a ferocious version of capitalism (which of course includes an overdose of corruption).

TheAdamAndChe 9y ago

The quality of life for most Americans is on the decline, hence why political extremists on both sides were nearly elected(For those outside the US, yes, Sanders is considered an extremist in this country). Workers work more, make less, get treated less well by their employers, have less stability, and simply don't have much free time. Socially, America is losing their identity due to a spreading mentality that social norms are bad for us. We spend time with other people less, have fewer close relationships, and find trouble spending much time with our kids because both parents work. Those who move to big cities from rural areas because the cities are the only places rising economically right now find that they lose the social support and child-rearing support that families provide, but there's not much they can do about that if they want to be okay financially. College is seen as the only avenue of getting out of that rat-race, but with ballooning schooling costs and large time and mental requirements to complete it, it's becoming an option for fewer and fewer people... Then when you do graduate, you're still paid significantly less than graduates 10 years ago. On top of all this, there isn't even healthcare stability. Costs for care and medication are ballooning so high so fast, but it's not like we can do anything about it. Healthcare is a necessity. If you're poor, can't afford insurance, and find yourself with a cut, broken bone, or god forbid cancer, you can't even be sure you'll be able to get care. With all of this instability, insecurity, and declining quality of life for most, it's only natural that anxiety and depression would be on the rise.

CalRobert 9y ago
It's remarkable, having moved to the EU, to note that most people I know older than their mid-40's can't imagine moving away from the US, and most people younger than that can't imagine moving to the US (with the exception of those who want to chase the startup life in SF). A month off a year is pretty nice. I can't imagine going back to a couple weeks a year, or getting guilted for not answering emails on weekends.
- TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
  If you got a couple weeks off a year in the US, you were better off than most[1]. Plus we don't get other basics like maternity or paternity leave. > most people I know older than their mid-40's can't imagine moving away from the US, and most people younger than that can't imagine moving to the US This points out a big generational divide. There are tons of people doing just fine in the US right now, but they were mostly grandfathered in. The number of jobs available has not been growing with our population, mostly because exploiting globalization and automation are much cheaper ways of growing a company. It's obviously getting to the point that it's creating social instability, though. [1] https://gusto.com/framework/health-benefits/paid-vacation-time-how-do-you-stack-up/ https://gusto.com/framework/health-benefits/paid-vacation-ti...

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]