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Depression as a "disease of modernity"

Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide and is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease.

In the last few centuries depression has become so common (especially among young people) and the numbers of people dealing with depression are constantly on the rise.

My question is: Why is the number of depressed people constantly on the rise?

I'm also interested in your personal opinions so feel free to share your thoughts.

4 answers6 replies

10 Comments

Feb 20, 2022

As the Daniel Sumner said stigma around mental illness specifically depression is getting less with the passage of time.

And social media playing important role. Fake success stories making people think they are loser and unworthy. In the name of self care social media is promoting toxicity.

What we as society don't understand tiktokers, influencers they are all actors and selling their products.

Natalija

Feb 20, 2022

Replying to

You are definitely right. I believe especialy the younger generations are affected by this "social media effect on mental health" because they are the ones that are growing up in a society where there is constant comparison in every field. Thank you for your answer Ayesha!

Daniel Sumner

Feb 20, 2022

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These are some great answers and it was a really great question too. I think perhaps there maybe one more reason why depression may be seen to be on the rise. It is now less of a stigma to be seen struggling with a mental health issue. Hearing that someone is taking medication to combat depression or seeking ways to improve mental health does not raise as many eyebrows. Thus the statistics would see this as a rise when in reality many feel safer at least in their personal lives to admit these struggles exist and are more ready to self-report. However such stigmas still exist and will have to be combatted further but this might explain one reason for the apparent rise. This has to be considered along with sociological and existential reasons. Thanks for posting such a great question and some great answers.

Natalija

Feb 20, 2022

Replying to

You have a great point, Daniel! I've been thinking about this aswell and I agree that the stigmatization of having mental health issues is far lower than it was years ago and that's great.

But, I've been wondering if the constant spreding of awareness of mental health might have gone into the wrong direction. Many people are self-diagnosing themselves after reading a "mental health posts" written by people who don't really have the right knowledge about it. Plus, seeing everywhere "ARE YOU DEPRESSED??"- type of posts on every social media platform can easily make a person start questioning his own well-being even though that person was perfectly fine before.

What are your thoughts on this?

Daniel Sumner

Feb 20, 2022

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Replying to

@Natalija That's a subtle point well made. I didn't think about the prevalence of mental health causing a sort of feedback loop. But you're absolutely right, on social media platforms like Tiktok I see a wide variety of questionable self-diagnoses.

However I'm forced to accept those claims until I have definitive proof of a self-diagnosis. I suppose it's rather like the Dr Google syndrome where people diagnose themselves with an obscure disease based upon the one or two symptoms instead of applying a trained clinical eye.

I suppose the awareness is not the issue, rather the prevalence of articles which are uninformed or don't have the oversight of a genuine psychologist or doctor. That along with quick questionnaires dull down the nuance of diagnosis.

It's a fascinating point and one that illustrates the problematic nature of the public perception of mental illness vs the clinical eye.

erajshahzad99

Feb 19, 2022

i guess social media has been playing a key role in this. due to covid people are mostly spending time on social media and hence social media may trigger an array of negative emotions in users that contribute to or worsen their depression symptoms

Natalija

Feb 20, 2022

Replying to

Social media definitely has it's part in triggering negative emotions, even more than people are aware of. Thank you for bringing this up!

Sehrish I.

Feb 19, 2022

In Today's world people are moving at a very fast pace. There is a continuous competition everywhere be at home or work places, we are just moving like machines. We have lost emotional connectedness. People are resistant to disclose their feelings, what they are going through. his emotional shallowness has made people so alone that they end up being depressed.

There is a lot more to the causes behind depression, but this also plays role at some point.

Natalija

Feb 20, 2022

Replying to

I get this answer really often when people are explaining to me how they feel nowadays, thank you for mentioning it! I strongly believe the emotinal connectedness is our primary need and not being able to fulfill it leads to feelings of emptiness and loneliness. Thank you for your answer Sehrish!

Sehrish I.

Feb 20, 2022

Replying to

@Natalija hope people realize its importance.