Are people more depressed and stressed nowadays ?

Depends on the person.

I think doctors and pharmacuetical companies are making more money off depression, but I’m not sure if people are really more depressed. I also think doctors are quick to write scripts for these drugs. My doctor said I had a ‘chemical imbalance’ which caused depression years ago. I bought it hook line and sinker until a doctor I worked for asked me how he knew this. he asked if my doctor measured the chemicals in my brain, and I said no. He then asked me how my doctor knew I had a chemical imbalance then. I stopped taking the medicine shortly after that, and really, I don’t see any difference.

No. I think we’re in a society that says, “There’s something wrong with you, we can fix it and make a lot of money in the process.”

To me, stress and depressed would be living through the Great Depression and the Dustbowl. We have it too easy in comparison today. IMO.

The same drug doesn`t work the same for everyone. I have to go through many different drugs to be on the one i am on right now, and it does make a difference. I can`t imagine being without it. I would not be able to function.

I blame cell phones. I’m not joking. Seriously, always being connected is stressful.

I don’t doubt that medications can help people. But life is more stressful now. Both parents working and trying to juggle kids and shopping and paying the bills. People have a lot of shit going on and that can burn you out really fast.

@johnpowell I could not agree with you more about cell phones.

I don’t know that there is more stress or depression now. I just think our stressors are different and depression is more widely recognized and talked about.

Do you think too many people are medicated for the wrong reasons?
Wow! Don’t get me started on this one. Short answer: yes.

Can anything be done to change the structure of our society so we can be happy and healthy without using drugs everyday?
Absolutely. We need a model of mental health that is based on healing and not on pharmaceuticals. One example that shows how our society (US and others like Europe) is the case of schizophrenia. In developing countries they have far fewer rates of schizophrenia and it is treatable. In the US it is a life long illness.

I have some “whacked out” theories on this topic. For one, yes, I do think that society is becoming more stressful with the complications of technology and demands of making money. This would explain why so many parents feel that they both have to work to support their kids. Something like a recession only worsens things like that. There’s a lot of pressure to have a certain amount of money and that contributes to stress. There’s just a certain desire to be “excellent” at everything: money-making, love, school, etc. People need to be realistic and stop pushing themselves so hard. This can be seen in the competitive nature of the Japanese school system and their rates of suicide among teens.

Additionally, I think that constantly hearing bad news can contribute to it. We hear about all the people that were killed, mass shot, etc. Even hearing about rates of depression can send out a general message of “negativity”, in my opinion.

We’re too caught up in our lives being as complex as possible, that we neglect the simple things like art, nature, and beauty. If more people appreciated those things, I guarantee you people would be happier. I agree with @johnpowell on this one. I’m sure meditations could help. And more human contact! Actual contact, not text on a screen.

And then I agree with the simple issue of overdiagnosis and the desire to make money off of medication. Don’t think you’re “bipolar” just because you experience both sadness and happiness (I’ve had people say this before). Everyone does. “Bipolar” is a much more serious condition. I think that once we think we have a mental disorder, we let it take over and we become pessimistic about it.

@RedPowerLady I think in times past people were too freakin’ busy working HARD sunup to sundown to dwell on how they might be feeling mentally. They couldn’t stop even if they were sick, unless the illness literally knocked them down, and then they just might die. I knew this farmer once, who got up at 4 a.m. every freakin’ morning, Saturday’s and Sunday’s included, to milk his cows. He made so much freakin noise, stomping around up there. :) (I had this freakin’ urge to freakin’ say “freakin’” 12 times…..)

Yes, and also, yes.

Considering most of these drugs come with recognized, published side effects of depression, suicidal ideation, and anxiety (i find this disturbing), I think most of the people taking SSRIs, etc. are not only medicated for the wrong reasons, but should not be taking these drugs whatsoever. As @scamp recounted, psychiatrists do not actually conduct actual scientific or medical tests, and are probably the only medical professionals who do not base their diagnoses and treatment plans on actual medical data beyond the words coming out of your mouth. If you read the major psychiatric journals, you will find their conclusions are predicated on shaky assumptions and strictly observational, qualitative methodologies; most scientists and psychiatrists have no idea how, or why, their drugs (e.g., SSRIs) work. Fluther psychiatrists, I’m all ears, seriously…

I’ve said it before, and will say it again: do 20 minutes of cardio, 100 push-ups, and 100 sit-ups a day, and you will not be depressed. and no, I’m not trying to market my $19.99 no-risk, guaranteed e-book on my amazing weight loss/natural anti-depressant ”secret”

Engaging in non-internet-related activities helps, too.

So many people are surprised to learn that our own bodies can actually solve a lot of our problems on their own, provided we take care of them.

@Val123 Great point.

@all Come on the Great Depression was horrible. As an example. World Wars were horrible (well all war is horrible). They had extreme stressors we don’t have today. They’ve just changed form.

Nah. Compared to what our ancestors went through? We’re spoiled.

@aprilsimnel My very poor grandmother traveled on a boat from Holland to America, by herself, with six children under the age of eight! Landed in a strange country, didn’t speak the language. Grammpa had gone ahead to buy land. But Gramma made that horrid trip by herself And believe you me, it wasn’t no luxury liner. People today would be checking themselves in for psychotherapy after that. But she, and grammpa, just got to work to build a new life from scratch.

I don’t know if it’s necessarily society’s fault, but I’d say I am definitely more stressed and depressed now-a-days.

Perhaps mass communication is part of the problem. Life has always been tough and had a dark side. Human nature remains constant over time.

I think people have come to expect life to be like the movies, and have an effortless happy ending. There is an expectation of entitlement to happiness without having to put in any effort.

I am sure humans have had it even worse 3000 years ago as compared to 60 years ago when people were living in a state of nature…

@five99one But you have nothing to compare “now a days” to, other than your own life and experiences.

@airowDee GA

A long time ago there was no medicine that cured depression. Also there were problems long ago that were only around then which caused depression that aren’t around today. The same thing goes for problems we have today which exist today but didn’t in the past.

@Val123 Well, that’s what I was comparing now-a-days to. It might be unorthodox, but oh well.

@five99one It’s OK. But I need to know….WHO IS FLUTHERBOT AND HOW DO I ADD HIM (or her) TO MY FRIENDS LIST???? This is actually @all

Unless you seriously have a chemical imbalance, then to be depressed all the time is your fault and your fault only, life is what you make it people!

@OutOfTheBlue Ever heard of learned helplessness?

Speaking of learned helplessness, the Martin Seligman Happiness Test at the very least is bound to give you some insight into yourself!

No, but doctors are better at coming up with the right diagnosis.

After 1942 far more Germans were depressed and stressed compared to today. Kids waiting in shelters and anxiously waiting for the bombers to attack. Or take the kids in Israel or Gaza.

In 1929 a lot of Americans were very depressed.

@mattbrowne Seems like today people get depressed like they get a cold.