There is so much trust and faith in the hands of modern day medicine to combat mental illness but rarely do I hear stats on it's efficacy. Does it work? And how do we measure "working"? If I'm free of a symptom but my quality of life is terrible, is that working? If I'm no longer depressed but I'm walking around like a zombie unable to feel anything, is that success?
“It now seems beyond question that the traditional account of depression as a chemical imbalance in the brain is simply wrong”
It's more than just mental...
“Mental illness is not a personal failure. In fact, if there is failure, it is to be found in the way we have responded to people with mental and brain disorders”
For this little blog piece, I'm taking a look at Psychology/Psychiatry and asking the question, "does this pill pop'n nation heal from the methods being tossed our way?"
I don't know. Let's take a look, here are some stats to get us started:
- According to WHO, 1 in 4 people will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives
- Over 450 million people currently suffer from mental disorders - placing them among the leading causes of ill-health & disability worldwide
- Treatments are available, however nearly 2/3 of people with disorders never seek help from a health professional
- From 1988 - 1994 through 2005 - 2008, the rate of antidepressant use in the US among all ages increased 400%
- Depressive disorders are already the 4th leading cause of the global disease burden and are expected to rank 2nd by 2020 behind ischaemic heart disease
- Antidepressants were the 3rd most common prescription drug taken by Americans of all ages in 2005-2008 and the most frequently used by persons aged 18-44 years
- More than 60% of Americans taking antidepressant medication have taken it for 2 years or longer, with 14% having taken the medication for 10 years or more
- 30% of college students reported feeling depressed, which disrupted their ability to function in school
- Suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29 year olds
- According to a recent Harvard Health article, 1 in every 10 Americans takes an antidepressant
- Harvard article shows that antidepressant use does not vary by income status
- Depression costs over $80 BILLION annually in the US due to loss of productivity and health care
“We now know that large mental institutions no longer represent the best option for patients and families. Such institutions lead to a loss of social skills, excessive restriction, human rights violations, dependency, and reduced opportunities for rehabilitation. Countries should move towards setting up community care alternatives in a planned manner...”
Factually, it appears that our scientific approach to the problem lead us to the very solutions that are now being identified as a part of the overarching problem.
I'm not proposing that we throw the baby out with the bathwater. Science has created amazing innovations and solutions to the problems we currently face and it will continue to produce more great solutions. All I'm suggesting is that perhaps the scientific community itself becomes self-aware and takes its death grip off of the desire to control something that is evidently outside of it's control.
I'm arguing that this is a problem that is better solved by the community, empowered by science but not governed. Compassion doesn't come from corporations, it comes from connected communities caring about their neighbors. Rather than science dictating the shoulds and shouldnt's perhaps a dual approach, where the people feel empowered rather than dictated might benefit us all.
what might that look like?