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**Asher** · October 4, 2002, 23:10

MotherJones is a notorious "activist" publication, for what it's worth...

**johncmcleod** · October 4, 2002, 23:31

I agree, some people have a serious medical problem, but most people who say they're depressed and try to commit suicide are spoiled. How come there were hardly any teen suicides back in the 1800's and during the depression and world war 1 and 2?

**Asher** · October 4, 2002, 23:36

Originally posted by johncmcleod
How come there were hardly any teen suicides back in the 1800's and during the depression and world war 1 and 2?

**blackice** · October 4, 2002, 23:57

And not one person has mentioned the fact? That the majority are males. Why?

Why are males, boys the target of mood altering drugs and behavior altering medications beyond the national average and or the known national average?

Why is it that in fact a teacher is or has an equal input to your childs medical needs and are they qualified to do that?

Social enginering or what....

**blackice** · October 5, 2002, 00:08

because only now are we beginning to diagnose it

Ok the top researcher over 20 years THINKS he may have a pattern down pat. That includes some 27 different behavior patterns. If your child has 6 of them there MAY be a problem...So WTF does the teacher know? Probably more than your 9 to 7 parent...
Shame really tink about it.

Ok WTF is that society (daycare) and drug companies (money) look no further...

Look if parents had more time half these kids would not be on drugs. If the DAYCARE society was nixed from the onset it would not be a problem.

Yup business should be ruling the world because they know what is best for profits...Beyond that?

Time to reflect kids because we are simply not in control of democracy and or our lives...To disput thet fact shows marketing has done a wonderful job. To any of you that view and or have a schooled knowlegde of marketing, business, government etc as one I am sure you will concure the changes from WW2 in society are quite easy to spot.

**Aeson** · October 5, 2002, 00:16

If anyone took the time to add up all of the "5 million people who suffer from so and so..." hype that comes out with the introduction of each new drug it would leave us with very few people who were NOT mentally ill.

from the article posted...

But GAD was a little-known ailment; according to a 1989 study, as few as 1.2 percent of the population merited the diagnosis in any given year.

Lincoln, 1.2 percent is quite a large number of people. In the US alone that would mean well over 3 million people faced with this disorder (GAD). Worldwide that number would be 72 million (which sounds very high, but I'm just using your numbers). Also remember that mental illnesses often overlap in symptoms and are hard to diagnose generally, so the count for one type of illness may include a large group of people who have been diagnosed with another as well. It's not necessarily X with GAD + Y with Depression ect. when considering the overall number of people with mental illnesses. Just adding up all the numbers for each illness is going to give a larger number than it should because of this, and that concept seems to have passed entirely over some heads.

While I agree that corporations tend to try too hard to sell their products, they aren't causing people to be affected by these disorders. There are cases where people are on drugs they don't need to be on, both in physical medicine and psychological, but it isn't a valid argument against whether or not the people who really do need these drugs have a problem. By the admission in the article you posted, there are a large number of people truely affected by these illnesses.

In some ways I think the article you posted shows that good can come from the greedy business practice involved. We are more aware of mental illness as a society because of these advertising campaigns. Just because the number of diagnosis increases doesn't mean that they are fallacious, just that more people who are suffering from these types of disorders are aware of available treatment.

**blackice** · October 5, 2002, 00:24

True and bunk at the same time many more factors effect the childs outcome.

**devilmunchkin** · October 5, 2002, 02:02

i think you should look at it on an indivicual basis..chances are..the ones that run around saying "look..i carved on myself!!" (and this happens) a...those kids are probably after attention...
alot of times, teens with real problems and depression will hide it irl...

**Sikander** · October 5, 2002, 03:22

Originally posted by Felch X
I know that I have a bunch of friends that are constantly bummed out, no matter what the circumstances. It's really odd for me to find someone who is happy more than they are depressed.

For some it's worse because they know they have nothing to be upset about, and end up feeling like their depression is their own fault. I really wish I could help, but all I can do is smoke them up, and help them feel better for a little bit.

You aren't doing them any favors by giving them marijuana. It's very closely linked with depression, both as a self-medication for depression, and more to the point a contributing factor to the depth of a depression. Your friends are playing with fire. Let them find their own matches.

**Bugs ****ing Bunny** · October 5, 2002, 03:22

Originally posted by blackice
And not one person has mentioned the fact? That the majority are males. Why?

Why are males, boys the target of mood altering drugs and behavior altering medications beyond the national average and or the known national average?

Why is it that in fact a teacher is or has an equal input to your childs medical needs and are they qualified to do that?

Social enginering or what....

Boys are more likely to be prescribed the drugs for two reasons-

1- Male mental illnesses tend to be more flamboyant than female. We're more likely to kill ourselves or try to become chief. Women slow down and become depressed, but can still have babies. That's nature for you.

2- Its really easy, on seeing aberrant behaviour in women, to smirk and whisper "PMS".

**Bugs ****ing Bunny** · October 5, 2002, 03:24

We badly need a new word in the English language. A word to sum up the disappointment felt by being incensed by a Speer post, but since there's been 100 posts since then it's hard to justify ripping him up for it.

Bah.

**loinburger** · October 5, 2002, 03:30

Originally posted by Ron Jeremy
We badly need a new word in the English language. A word to sum up the disappointment felt by being incensed by a Speer post, but since there's been 100 posts since then it's hard to justify ripping him up for it.

"Halfwit induced frustration syndrome," or HIFS. I hear that they're treating it with alcohol and brass knuckles.

**Shi Huangdi** · October 5, 2002, 03:47

Lincoln.

to that that idiotic Mother Jones news article. I have lived with someone in my family who suffered Generalized Anxiety Disorder- it was really debilitating. Going on Medicine really helped a lot. You should know better than post crap from left-wing publications who are out to look for any opportunity to shriek about corporations.

"Who knows why it seems to be higher these days. The general consensus is the reason it seems higher these days (and higher in the middle to upper classes) is because only now are we beginning to diagnose it, whereas before everyone was told to suck it up and move on since most people have the ability to do that."

That may be the case, but as you said society is different now then in the 19th century. It may well be that our society as of now is more likely to encourage suicidal behavior. And if say you were to compare Japan to Nepal you would probably find Japanese society would have a higher suicide rate. It is important that social factors be fully investiagated. As for suicide during the Depression or WWII- well if the psychologist Maslow is to be believed, if our most basic motive- that is to survive- is in jeapordy we won't care about much else. Once that is taken care of we start to end up dealing with more needs that can be complex and tougher to deal with. But even if Maslow is right, we shouldn't blame people for being depressed during boom times, that is the way people are. I really find posts of some people claiming that alot of people who have depression/suicide are just spoiled. Depression is a real illness that can ruin your life and isn't something that can be so easily treated, and victims deserve our love and respect.

Personally I would not want to use Psychatric drugs if it were all avoidable, but I do not want to judge or stigamatize those who do need them.

**Bugs ****ing Bunny** · October 5, 2002, 03:56

Lincoln did once advise a poster on this forum to stop taking his anti-depressants and turn to Jesus instead. Even with the passage of time I'd still rank it in the top 10 of most irresponsible posts ever made.

**loinburger** · October 5, 2002, 04:01

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi
Personally I would not want to use Psychatric drugs if it were all avoidable, but I do not want to judge or stigamatize those who do need them.

And how.

It's not much fun to be told that you have to take drugs for the rest of your life in order to be "normal." It's not reasonable to think that people would take psychiatric drugs solely as attention-seeking behavior -- there are far safer and more obvious ways to go about seeking attention (cutting yourself in clearly non-lethal ways, burning yourself with lighters in clearly non-permanent ways, etc). Everybody I've met who takes psychiatric medication attempts to hide the fact, and for good reason -- it's more of a stigma than a means of having others feel empathy/pity for you.

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Teenage Depression - Epidemic or overblown?

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