Is one-third of the population struggling with mental health issues?

According to some recent news reports and even studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine, it turns out that nearly a third of the entire world's population is struggling with some form of mental health disorder. To make matters even more discouraging, most people aren't getting any real help at all—either they can't access therapy, or the treatment they do find just doesn't hit the mark.
The numbers are pretty staggering, too. It’s estimated that about 23% of global disability is actually caused by mental health issues. That’s higher than heart disease or strokes, which sit at 21%, and way ahead of cancer, which accounts for "only" 11%.

What are your thoughts on these statistics?😳

It’s hardly surprising; if we’re actually buying into Freud, everyone caught up in
the constraints of a civilized society—which forces them into social roles at the massive
cost of suppressing their primal instincts within a culture that offers no outlet for their true
selves—is bound to suffer from some variation of
neurosis. =)

Look, I don’t know enough about clinical psychology to officially label specific individuals as mentally unstable, but honestly? This sounds like it could be spot on.

I’m convinced that more than half the population is somehow "broken"... actually, let's call it 80%... childhood trauma, deep-seated fears, various complexes, anxiety... just endless stuff. And the kicker? They actually walk around thinking they’re perfectly normal, average, and good people. It's truly tragic.😈

I'm right there with you. Let's be real, we're all a little bit unhinged...

Olivia Evans8 said:I'm right there with you. Let's be real, we're all a little bit unhinged...

And from that comes the conformist conclusion that if you actually want to function
in this society, wanting to be sane is considered a disorder. =)

Elizabeth Ruiz65 said:And from that comes the conformist conclusion that if you actually want to function
in this society, wanting to be sane is considered a disorder. =)

😁 Honestly? I don't even think we should bother trying. Some kind of chaos is gonna catch up to us anyway...

brightpuma11 said:Look, I don’t know enough about clinical psychology to officially label specific individuals as mentally unstable, but honestly? This sounds like it could be spot on.

I’m convinced that more than half the population is somehow "broken"... actually, let's call it 80%... childhood trauma, deep-seated fears, various complexes, anxiety... just endless stuff. And the kicker? They actually walk around thinking they’re perfectly normal, average, and good people. It's truly tragic.😈

And then they go ahead and praise a life that's such a total wreck... 😛
There isn't even a standard for "normal" anymore, because anyone who is truly normal is messed up in their own unique way, and besides, nobody really pays attention to the crazy ones anyway.

wearyowl29 said:According to some recent news reports and even studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine, it turns out that nearly a third of the entire world's population is struggling with some form of mental health disorder. To make matters even more discouraging, most people aren't getting any real help at all—either they can't access therapy, or the treatment they do find just doesn't hit the mark.
The numbers are pretty staggering, too. It’s estimated that about 23% of global disability is actually caused by mental health issues. That’s higher than heart disease or strokes, which sit at 21%, and way ahead of cancer, which accounts for "only" 11%.

What are your thoughts on these statistics?😳

But what exactly are the criteria they're using to draw the line between being mentally ill and being "normal"?
I mean, since they obviously didn't go out and test every single person on Earth, how was this study actually conducted and how did they handle the "sampling" process?

darkbison81 said:But what exactly are the criteria they're using to draw the line between being mentally ill and being "normal"?
I mean, since they obviously didn't go out and test every single person on Earth, how was this study actually conducted and how did they handle the "sampling" process?

You’d have to take that up with the editors over at Quincy. Honestly, I suspect the parameters were just lifted straight from established Western clinical theories and practices, and then applied globally as if they were universal truths.

When you're wading through a massive forest of data like this, there's always going to be stuff that slips through the cracks—things that raw numbers simply can't capture.

wearyowl29 said:You’d have to take that up with the editors over at Quincy. Honestly, I suspect the parameters were just lifted straight from established Western clinical theories and practices, and then applied globally as if they were universal truths.

When you're wading through a massive forest of data like this, there's always going to be stuff that slips through the cracks—things that raw numbers simply can't capture.

Since I don't have a subscription to The Lancet myself, and since we're basing this whole discussion on data from one of their articles, I’m really hoping someone who actually has access can weigh in here. I'm looking for someone who's had a chance to dig into those specific figures—specifically the person I was addressing in my first post.

Before I decide, I honestly don't know if I should go through with it.
I tend to trust the raw data. I've seen it happen more times than I can count—where information gets pulled straight from peer-reviewed journals and scientific studies, only to be fed into the daily news cycle and completely stripped of its actual meaning.
I trust the research itself.
I’d say 2/3 is a lowball estimate, wouldn't you?
I’d say that 2/3 is a massive overestimate.

Look, I need you to lay out exactly what was discovered—I need the specifics from the original source. Once I actually have the facts in front of me, then I can start forming an actual opinion on the matter. 🙂

Look, I know this might not have anything to do with what everyone else is talking about here, but I'm genuinely curious. If anyone happens to have a link to an article on this, please send it my way.

Which two-thirds of humanity do you think forum users actually fall into?😬

Does someone who enjoys BDSM fall into that one-third? Or maybe someone with a fetish for, say, leather or feet?

I’m having some doubts about that calculation regarding one-third of the population...
The figure being cited is 14% of all illnesses being mental health disorders.
If you want to verify, just check this link from The Lancet
http://www.thelancet.com/online/focu...lth/collection
And here is another link regarding that "news" item... there isn't any mention of one-third of humanity anywhere.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/81489.php

Keith Lee2 said:Which two-thirds of humanity do you think forum users actually fall into?😬

To the dreamers, the visionaries, and the true believers. 😬 😉

Gerald Rivera60 said:I’m having some doubts about that calculation regarding one-third of the population...
The figure being cited is 14% of all illnesses being mental health disorders.
If you want to verify, just check this link from The Lancet
http://www.thelancet.com/online/focu...lth/collection
And here is another link regarding that "news" item... there isn't any mention of one-third of humanity anywhere.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/81489.php

I know I'm drifting off-topic here, but I don't really feel like starting a whole new thread. Since you seem to have a knack for finding links and data, do you happen to know if there are any actual scientific studies on treating panic disorder? Specifically, statistics regarding therapy success rates and actual recovery numbers.
Every online psychiatrist on the major medical portals claims that anxiety disorders are curable in very high percentages. But what I want to know is how much and in what way? I need precision, not just hearsay—because looking at the people panicking on these forums, it doesn't exactly seem to be working the way they claim it does.

Here are two links discussing panic disorder treatments (the second one is a full e-article)
http://www.brainexplorer.org/panic/P...reatment.shtml
http://tc.engr.wisc.edu/UER/uer97/author3/index.html

That figure about a third of the population struggling with mental health issues doesn't surprise me. I've come across studies suggesting it could be upwards of 40% when you account for everyone dealing with various psychological struggles.

If you ask psychoanalysts, they’d probably argue that over 95% of people are living with some form of neurosis.

At the end of the day, a lot of this depends on how you actually define a mental disorder and what specific criteria you use to pull those numbers together.

A reliable source just told me that somewhere between 60% and 70% of all prescription drugs handed out in the US are basically just various types of Xanax,
along with things like Ativan, Klonopin, and Valium.
I'm not saying everyone is out of their minds, but it’s pretty clear proof that we’re a seriously anxious nation.

wearyowl29 said:According to some recent news reports and even studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine, it turns out that nearly a third of the entire world's population is struggling with some form of mental health disorder. To make matters even more discouraging, most people aren't getting any real help at all—either they can't access therapy, or the treatment they do find just doesn't hit the mark.
The numbers are pretty staggering, too. It’s estimated that about 23% of global disability is actually caused by mental health issues. That’s higher than heart disease or strokes, which sit at 21%, and way ahead of cancer, which accounts for "only" 11%.

What are your thoughts on these statistics?😳

Wait, so does being healthy just mean you don't have a disease? 🙄

I’m curious about the metrics being used here to label people as "mentally ill." It feels arbitrary. I mean, is there actually anyone alive today who hasn't experienced a bout of depression, a wave of anxiety, or some level of paranoia at some point? We all go through those dark stretches. To claim that two billion people are somehow clinically broken isn't just an overstatement; it’s its own kind of madness 😬