Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Affluent British 15-year-old girls twice as prone to anxiety and depression as poor

Nizzle · 08-24-2003, 12:00 PM

One thing I would question is any conclusion based on this statistic: "in 1987 only six percent suffered from a serious mental illness, now it’s 18 percent." That is 16 years. I believe the mental health profession has refined its definition of mental illness and clinical depression to include a lot of conditions we previously did not credit as such.

He makes a lot of interesting points, though; particularly about basing ones self-esteem by comparing up/down the perceived social ladder. While I don't think doing doing this is anything new, I can see how the direction our society is taking could amplify this effect.

08-24-2003, 12:00 PM	#2 (permalink)
Nizzle God-Hating Liberal Location: Silicon Valley, CA	One thing I would question is any conclusion based on this statistic: "in 1987 only six percent suffered from a serious mental illness, now it’s 18 percent." That is 16 years. I believe the mental health profession has refined its definition of mental illness and clinical depression to include a lot of conditions we previously did not credit as such. He makes a lot of interesting points, though; particularly about basing ones self-esteem by comparing up/down the perceived social ladder. While I don't think doing doing this is anything new, I can see how the direction our society is taking could amplify this effect. __________________ Nizzle Last edited by Nizzle; 08-24-2003 at 01:45 PM..