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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

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.

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.