Just heard this on MSNBC - Americans have the most mental

[Maraya1969]

illness in the world. Sorry I couldn't even wait for the story. Will catch you up later.

:rofl: And please don't bash me for making fun of mental illness. I've am a card carrying member of the Bipolar Club.

[edbermac]

1. Yeah and that's just in the White House...

[Bluebear]

2. But enough about our President! n/t

[merh]

14. Baa dum dum!

:hi:

[Bluebear]

16. Thank you, thank you very much.

I got a million of 'em.

:hi:

[Roland99]

25. Are you here all week?

[mopaul]

3. and we have the perfect president for this situation

[cthrumatrix]

4. we are drugged constantly.... this is by DESIGN

they don't want an awake an self sufficent public....they want us drugged, on our last dollar and working 60 hours a week.

People have no idea of how they are being "had".

[The Witch]

8. BULLSHIT.

We have the highest rate because we have the greatest knowledge of it. What we recognize as biologically based brain disorders -- as real and as severe as any physical illness -- so many cultures see as personal weaknesses, as possession by the devil, as evil.

Let me tell you something. I'm mentally ill. And if I didn't have those "drugs" I would be DEAD. Now, I'm alive and working, supporting myself, planning a move, thinking for myself, opposing the administration and questioning authority. Something tells me that's not what "they want."

Loosen up the tinfoil hat, especially when your conspiracy theories indirectly tell me that if you had your way I would be DEAD.

[Pockets]

13. Lighten up, he wasn't saying that...

Either directly, or indirectly. I did not noticed anywhere he mentioned that psychological illness does not exist and should never be treated.

[Orrex]

15. How postmodern!

The fact that you have a legitimate mental illness gives no reason to conclude anything about the skyrocketing rate of mental illness in the United States at large.

It's my view that a mental illness not caused by a neurochemical defect should not be treated with a drug designed to correct a defect in one's neurochemistry. That way madness lies.

Without even donning a tinfoil hat, one can't help noting the odd corelation between the availability of prescription drugs and the incidence of maladies intended by treated with those drugs. How convenient also that children who demonstrate boredom or "bad" behavior are quickly diagnosed as "problem" children in need of pharmaceutical intervention.

Don't be so quick to decide that your real but anecdotal mental illness provides any insight into the nature of big-business pharmaceuticals and the strongly motivated application thereof.

[cthrumatrix]

18. you need to do some reading..... if you think the drug companies

enjoy pushing drugs you are far emoved from reality.

Doctors push pills...not treating the cures. Americans are obese from constant diet abuse....where is the education????

Big coporations have our politicians bought and paid for. That includes the people that run this world.

tell me about our education system, 43million + w/o medical coverage, bankruptcy laws passed to screw the poor....it is a disaster.....

They don't want the US to be "independent, wealthy, healthy and wise"... wake up

[MisterP]

21. Canada and Europe don't believe that mental illness is caused by the

devil, and yet their rates are apparently lower

[Karenina]

28. And THEIR citizens

have HEALTH CARE, so they can get it treated. :shrug:

[Pockets]

9. Agreed, but there are multiple possibilities

1) It's a way big business leaders control our behavior
2) the way pharmaceutical companies rake in the dough.
3) psychiatrists are trained to always say you have something wrong, otherwise you wouldn't have walked in their office, right?
4) hypocritical moral judgments

[devilgrrl]

5. Of course we are! Many of us can't live up to our own expectations...

we aren't attractive enough, rich enough, got enough stuff, etc. You can't win in America, therefore you must be crazy.

[Maraya1969]

17. Someone asked the Dali Lama, (someone Buddhist)

how they deal with self hatred and he said they didn't have any.

I believe there are biological reasons for mental illness but I also think our society can drive a person mad.

[indepat]

6. Americans get to hear and read enough RW hogwash daily to make anyone

realize someone is crazy here.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. Most prevalent are the conservative illnesses...mental constipation

and verbal diarrhea.

[Mr.Green93]

10. Collective guilt?

for a country founded on lies genocide, slavery and environmental destruction.

[Kipling]

20. Er...

That would be everywhere. Britain had oppressive colonialism. France had even worse colonialism. Germany had Nazis. Japan had fascists. Australia had genocide. There is no country without it's fair share of skeletons in the closet.

And in response to the original post, that's what you get when the average man in the street ceases to be a human and becomes a Consumer. It's not natural, and it's not right. And the rest of the world follows eagerly.

[KittyWampus]

30. Consumerism, Yes But Also Industrialization & Our Divorce From Nature

the break up of the family unit (doesn't matter WHAT kind of family unit) and division of communities.

There are a few people making a LOT of money dividing us up and making us miserable.

[getmeouttahere]

11. This is something I have been predicting for about...

a year now. And there will be more of it. Let's see, people losing their jobs to other countries, they try to improve themselves through education, wait! not so fast, they are slashing the pell grant programs, but I still make it through the rest of my schooling, oh wait, no companies are creating better paying jobs, especially since WalMart is the largest employer in the world; meanwhile during the time you were bettering yourself your standard of living was reduced dramatically, now even though you have a college degree you still have to work at WalMart and at least one other job just to make ends meet, and if you haven't already lost your home you are having a difficult time coping with the stress of working two jobs and struggling to pay your bills; meanwhile if you're single and your friends were able to hold on to their good paying jobs, they no longer hang out with you because you can't afford to do anything, and no one will go out with you for the same reason, and if you're married you have a whole host of issues that eclipse the loss of friends and a social life...

and now, does anyone wonder why we have so much mental illness?

Keeping up with the Jones' will be just one of many reasons why their will be more mental illness in the future.

[stillcool]

12. with all of our parallel realities....

up is down, freedom is death, reform is destruction, invasion is liberation, ownership is slavery,....how could we not be a little twisted?

[VOX]

19. Now, I've sat down and discussed this with myself, and both of us...

heartily agree. :)

Not making fun, either. I've been dogged with anxiety disorder most of my life. :(

[gumby]

22. Catch 22 on a National Scale.

If you really see what's going on, you go mad; but you can't really acknowledge or say it out loud because then you become an Anti-American Enemy.

[undergroundpanther]

23. Americans also

Lead powerless lives of servitude and competition with each other to an extreme,we are beholden to faceless people behind institutional facades that give us nothing in return compared to our very lives and happiness.
Americans also believe big lies. and teach them to kids.Like everyone can make it in this (rigged) system and if you can't be SOMEBODY(somebody this culture values not someone you value) you are worthless,crazy dehumanized and should die.

Americans are raised to be powerless to lose their own voice,and to serve'authority'from day one.Any genuine desire to change,or to rebellion or any deviance from what you SHOULD be,should look like, should do with your life,should think/not think ,should feel/not feel in any given situation is scapegoated,, by the'status quo the fake innocents,the experts,the tweekysheeple, the NIMBY,or called sick by shrinks who are in our culture the class that gets to tell everyone else who's 'normal' and what isn't to suit their bosses designs..or you get deemed 'threatening'or some other words to shut your voice down... Parents who can't cope with their own issues will oppress a willful child learning to exercise autonomy,peers bully the sensitive kids, bosses threaten everyone to work or starve..The oppression and powerlessness and the feeling you can't change the system is pervasive maddening and... it never ends..until we end it..either by accepting ourselves as we are,and caring about the well being of each other and let each other be and share power..or this apathy of being a prisoner turns into madness and ends by unspeakable violence.It's no coincidence madness has the word MAD in it mad also means anger.

[ComerPerro]

24. Probably because we get it diagnosed most frequently

[KansDem]

26. Isn't there a plan by TeamBush to "test" every American for metal illness?

Beginning with mandatory testing for school-aged kids...

If I recall correctly, Bush wants all Americans tested for mental illness, which, I believe, has been criticized as a big pay off to the pharmaceutical companies. The plan is simple: test all American school-aged kids, find a couple million in need of "medication," and watch the pharmaceutical stocks skyrocket!

Then, move on to testing all Americans...

Looks like MSNBC is helping by "softening up" the chumps (ie, American consumers) for the mandatory testing phase...

Scenario
American parent: What? What's this note from Junior's school about mandatory mental testing? And the parents have no say? Well, I guess that's OK. After all, I heard recently that we Americans have the most mental illness in the world. Now, where did I hear that? Hmmm....

[progressivebydesign]

27. Came out the same day: Americans are the most religious.

I'm just saying.. that's all. :shrug:

[me b zola]

29. you read my mind

[dave29]

31. I blame myself

sorry about all that mental illness

[Julius Civitatus]

32. All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy

Americans have the least hours of vacation in the Western world.

Americans have the least forgiving jobs, least benefits in the Western world.

If you are a worker, corporate America will drive you insane. No question.