Discussion Will/ has depression become 'normal'?

[Forever Sleep]

A friend said that 1 in 3 people at their workplace were on antidepressants. Not surprising. It sounded an awful place to work! I remember when I heard the title: 'Prozac Nation', I mistook it for a cynical comment that so many people were on antidepressants.

It makes me wonder though. Is being 'depressed' a new 'normal'? I think there are obviously degrees of depression and I suppose not everyone develops ideation with it.

I tend to think there is less sympathy for mental illness as opposed to physical illness and, especially for depression. Maybe it's because so many people do seem to have some level of it.

My friend received little sympathy from her Mum when she complained. Her Mum simply responded that everyone was depressed. Even the cat!

What do you think? Are lots of people depressed? Is it a new phenomenon or, have we always been like this?

 

[starboy2k]

Is depression "normal" not really
Is depression "profitable" sadly yes

 

[Pluto]

 

[NoPoint2Life]

I remember over 20 years ago when the four other people in my department each had at least one child on antidepressants. maybe they were more open with each other even with me around because they were all going through something similar.

I thought that was so strange. And those were the days where mental health wasn't nearly as openly discussed.

I think these days the subject isn't as taboo and many people can easily go to their GP and have them prescribe something.

 

[-Link-]

We say "depression is becoming more common" (or worse, "normal") -- maybe it is, maybe it isn't -- but this also seems to have a scapegoating effect where personal responsibility is overemphasized.

How many people feel trapped in depressing life circumstances? Like being impoverished despite working full-time hours, or feeling an insurmountable loneliness, or getting burnt out from being overworked, or having a lack of support in their life, or being directly affected by regressive governments or cultural shifting?

This, I would imagine, is becoming increasingly common.

Keep a person down long enough, and of course they're going to develop some kind of emotional dysregulation which then becomes a clinical diagnosis. But once the "depression" label is slapped on somebody, it puts the onus on the individual. It implies that they're the problem, and I feel like a lot of the time people's external circumstances are overlooked.

What do you think? Are lots of people depressed? Is it a new phenomenon or, have we always been like this?

I think it's at least becoming more apparent at a society level, and it's being reported and talked about more.

This would have been called "melancholia" or "hysteria" or "laziness" in years past. If we're expanding "depression" to include people who feel trapped in depressing life circumstances, then it's going to seem a lot more common than what would be clinically recognized.

 

[SeafoamSkeleton]

All is I can say is I'm jealous of the people who can still hold a job during an episode. I know they suffer the same as me, but sometimes I feel like I have a totally different disease than them. I can't really move or concentrate and everything is ridiculously fatiguing. It makes me feel weak and inferior that I can't keep going like people with the more functional type of depression, especially if it's not trying to kill them.

 

[Shiksa]

Everyone at my old work had been through a string of antidepressants and SSRIs at some point. Lots of people self-medicated too including me. Right now it feels like a pretty normal thing.

 

[Ch4in3dcr0w]

I dont think it became more common its the the case of diagnosis becoming better and the topic of mental health becoming less taboo.

 

[froggirl9000]

Not really. Considering oneself depressed is normal, because we have fallen into just medicalising every bad thing. People aren't sad anymore, they're "depressed". People aren't nervous or worried anymore, they're "anxious". People never have bad experiences, they have "trauma" etc. etc. So considering oneself depressed is normalised, and doctors are eager to take advantage of it to turn a profit.

 

[usernamesarehard]

I don't think so and I don't think it ever will be. Maybe I'm saying this because I have some other issues that aren't just depression, but people don't want to be around depressed people. Maybe more people are on antidepressants, but the idea that you have to be happy or at the very least content all the time will never go away. Maybe it'll be normal to have depression or take antidepressants, but it'll never be normal to BE depressed. You'll always have to wear a mask. And if you want a partner, you basically have to get good at lying 24/7 unless you want to be alone.