Mental illness and society.

Post Reply New Topic

So there is a quote I like that goes like this 'It's no measure of good health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.' yet those of us who aren't well adjusted to this profoundly sick society are seen as mentally ill. People don't end up with screwed up brain chemistry for no reason, and in all mental illnesses there are environmental and social factors that contribute so what does that tell you? Also it's been noted the rate of mental illnesses like depression and anxiety has risen hmmm I wonder if there's a connection.


So the question is should society be well adjusted to the people within it, or should we become well adjusted to society. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

a while ago i read a peace of book about budhism and psychology and it talked about western socieety inventing medicenes against mental diseases that previousley didn't exist. i have some other thoughts about this to buts thats to much to wright the evening after a rave.

Well, I believe that any type of personal "program" or profile that is intrinsically detrimental to oneself or others in society is labelled mental illness. Whether it's justified or not? Well, I guess the main yardstick for that would be the criminal law, but beyond that, it's hard to say - it's based on a lot of moral and subjective factors that are firmly ingrained in the fabric of society, and good luck unraveling those. Yes, the environmental and social factors have produced mental illness more so than the other way around, it's not that much of a 50/50 chicken and egg dilemma from my perspective.

Not just sick societies, but families with different norms. People who basically adjust to living in sick families are called borderlines later. Basically, it comes from the feeling you need to please everyone no matter how erratic they are, but from what I know, that feeling doesn't really holds up for a lifetime.