I just read in an article in the economist that "Suicide is being recognised as an illness".
This is absolutely absurd considering how widespread it is.
You might even say it is normal.
Yet somehow it's become commercialised and shrinks are prescribing so many drugs and even those non-drug companies are spruking vitamins and special diets...
What the heck???
Depression is not a sickness, it's a state of mind.
I wouldn't be surprised if there are more people that are depressed than other "normal" behaviours.
For example, homosexuality was regarded at one point as a mental illness...
What is wrong with western society?
Update:On one hand psychiatrists and vitamin companies are betting on depression being a mental illness and a lack of penetration into statistics.
On the other hand, they require people to be depressed to sell their product....
Update 3:Yes... Ok, you blew my argument away.
However....
Why do psychiatrists use the argument of normality to justify treatment???
Update 5:Ok... Hmmm. The statistics are truly lower when properly diagnosed then...
Okay. :-( Sorry for wasting your time...
Anyway, how do I justify it, or do I not?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
Well, being realistic, severe depression is indeed a mental illness which can often be helped with medication. However, these days, many people aren't really depressed (in the sense that they would need something as drastic as medication) and in the past they would have simply been considered "feeling blue". People are given medications where therapy (or just someone to talk to) is a better solution, because prescribing medications is often what makes people money.
It's not a societal issue. Drug companies and psychologists create this idea for their own benefit, and it eventually becomes a commonplace thought.
That said, being suicidal (chronically) is a mental illness, as it can be very harmful. In one study only 3% of people that were stopped when they were going to commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge went on to commit suicide at a later date. This is not something you would medicate for. However, that 3% which has recurring and continuing thoughts of depression is definitely ill.
if a ton of people get the flu it's an epidemic
just because a lot of people have something doesn't mean it should be considered good