Mental illness is still poorly understood by the public. When it comes to things like clinical anxiety or depression, an alarmingly high number of people think that those who suffer from it should just shrug it off and do some work on themselves.
Try telling that to the 350 million people worldwide who suffer from depression, or the 800.000 people who commit suicide each year due to lack of proper treatment, writes IFLScience.
Life without disruption is unusual
Depressed people, says the study, are more susceptible to some types of cancer. A new study from Duke University highlights how unusual it actually is for a middle-aged person to never experience a mental disorder in their life. Of the 988 study participants, only 171 had never experienced anxiety, depression or similar problems between the ages of 11 and 38, meaning 83 percent had experienced the disorder in their lifetime.
Of those 83 percent, about half of the participants had at least one case of short-term mental disorder or a related condition, including drug use. Others experienced chronic mental disorders, such as long-term depression, bipolar disorder, or similar types of psychotic episodes.
This study was "longitudinal," meaning that individuals' mental health was assessed eight times between those ages. In this way, they followed their mental state in detail even during the earlier years of their lives.
Wealth and physical health do not guarantee mental stability
Interestingly, it used to be thought that growing up in a wealthy family, physical health and high intelligence meant that such a person was less likely to develop mental problems.
But this study does not show that. It seems that people who rarely express negative emotions, have a healthy social life, and are able to have good self-control and self-restraint are the ones who are the most mentally tough, even from a young age.
Among adults, those with a better education, a good job and a satisfactory relationship are the most mentally stable. This does not mean that such people were always extremely happy, but that they were less prone to depression and similar problems.
It is important to mention that this study was conducted on people from only one place, the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, so these particular results may only be representative of that place.
But the results of numerous studies from other parts of the world, including Switzerland and the USA, show great similarities.
The bottom line is that you are far more likely to suffer from a mental disorder than not at some stage in your life. The more people are aware of this, the more they will treat these diseases and disorders with respect and understanding.
In addition, it is important to understand that scientists are still trying to determine to what extent depression is a genetic disorder, how much is caused by the environment, and how much is caused by neurological problems.
Contraceptive pills and antidepressants
Another factor not covered is contraceptive pills. Although there have been indications of a link for some time, recently it has been almost confirmed that women who use this type of contraception are 23 percent more likely to need antidepressants.
Thanks to all this research, the social stigma regarding mental disorders is slowly decreasing, but there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of scientific papers and the way in which the results are communicated to the public.
Bonus video:
