I’m not sure how it works in other parts of the world, but I do know that here in the US a central message of our culture is to pick yourself up by the bootstraps, toughen up, and stop blaming others for your problems. If you're poor, it's your fault. If you're sad, you're a baby. If you ask for help, you're a moocher demanding a handout. Independence, lack of emotion or vulnerability, and material wealth are what most of us are taught to strive for, above and beyond most anything. This is the ideal of mental health. On the other hand, displays of melancholy, pain, fear, or uncertainty are not only spurned, but they often have dire consequences.
Men are told from the youngest of ages to “stop being such a sissy” and “learn to be a man.” They learn to swallow their tears and mask their pain lest they get beaten by their peers or marginalized as being “a girl.” Forget about actually being a girl. When “acting like a girl” is a mortal insult, it becomes quite clear the less-than human nature of femininity and womanhood. And if a woman dares to be more "manly" she is viewed as “butch” or its close cousin, "bitch." Women who are sexually assaulted are blamed, and if they suffer years later are told they are "playing the victim." Black people and other minorities are told they are "too sensitive" for demanding the end to systematic racism (as are advocates from many civil rights movements). If someone cannot hide their pain or scream in agony, they are shipped off to be "dealt with" by mental health professionals. There is absolutely no room for empathy or compassion in our modern society, let alone an acknowledgement of grief, sorrow, oppression, and trauma.
The rapidly increased rates of diagnosable mental illness may have been partially driven by greed, corporate interests, prestige, and consequences of drugging the masses with toxic chemicals known to cause many of the problems they purport to assist. Many authors, such as Robert Whitaker, have certainly made cases for all of these factors. Yet, greed and corporate tyranny can only exist when there is demand.
[For more of this story, written by Noel Hunter, go to http://www.madinamerica.com/20...d-society-look-like/]
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