I see a lot of good replies here but no one posted a bit of material analysis. Psychiatry is only really significant in wealthy societies. It requires a lot of

I see a lot of good replies here but no one posted a bit of material analysis. Psychiatry is only really significant in wealthy societies. It requires a lot of resources- Look at the psychiatrist themselves: Need a medical education, and then need to choose a field that helps people with more subtle diseases. Most poor countries don't have an abundance of doctors, and the doctors they have focus on illnesses that are going to physically hurt people. Then look at the patients. They need to have enough money to pay the psychologist, and then they need to have enough time to schedule the appointments, stick with them, and afford the pills. Looking at the basic resources and constraints of a society, it'd be very surprising if poor countries had as many diagnoses of psychiatric conditions as wealthy countries. And please note: I'm not making a value judgement on psychiatry here! Only saying that it requires a certain level of prosperity to become an element of society.