Millions of People Are on Antidepressants in UK and USA and Canada
So many of us are depressed today. There are 7.3 million people on antidepressants! That is 17% of the population in UK alone.
In USA During 2015–2018, 13.2% of adults used antidepressants. Globally, antidepressant usage has been on the rise. As of 2020, among select Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, Iceland, Portugal, and Canada were the biggest consumers of antidepressants.
Iceland is the biggest consumer of antidepressants worldwide, according to recent OECD report entitled “Health at a Glance 2015.” Some 118 out of every 1,000 Icelanders now consume these drugs on a daily basis, though the trend certainly isn’t new.16 Nov 2015
Something is seriously wrong in a world that has first rate technological advancement, with excellent standards of living. But why are we more depressed today? There is no simple answer to this complexity.
Causes – Clinical depression – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
The NHS view is that it can be:
1. Genetics.
2. Redundancy
3. Divorce
4. Bereavement
5. Debt money worries
6. Alcohol….
All these contributing factors no doubt will create mental health challenges. Worrying too much does takes it toil on the mind, and our ability to have clearness of mind to go about our daily task.
Sadly, the ‘happy pills,’ that are prescribed as sweeties, does not deal with real human issues. It is also too easy to have our doctor recommend antidepressants as a temporary fix, but unless we deal with the root; we will become life-long customers to strong medications.
But having said that, it does not satisfy my curiosity as to why with such advancement; we are more likely to be on antidepressants! What is it about our lifestyle that is killing us?
From an alternative perspective, modern life can also be part of the problem as to why the number of people with mental health challenges are staggering.
How modern Living affects Mental Health
How modern life affects our physical and mental health
Medical and health information (medicalnewstoday.com)
According to, ‘Medical News Today’ technology and social media has made an impact on our lives to such degree that we have moved away from nature to an almost artificial life. They also note a link between video games and aggression.
This is not surprising. Video games are becoming more violent, and so lifelike. They are also extremely addictive. Medical News Today, also finds being exposed to 4 hrs of video games can cause depression! Many research have concluded these findings.
Today, we have less quality family time, but instead we have our smart phones glued to our ears, or we are busily surfing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to name but a few…
We see families in restaurants, not talking, but all on their phones! No one talk anymore! We don’t engage on how we are feeling, in general.
The stress of modern living has detached us from the earth, and away from nature. So our spiritual selves craves this life living water to quench our parched soil. But, there are so many things that we can do to improve our mental health.
How to Improve our Mental Health Naturally:
1. Go for regular walks in the park
2. Listen to relaxing music
3. Meditation
4. Join a group or hobby that does not involve the internet
5. Eat healthily
6. Put a day a side where you have nothing to do with social media
7. Get a good night sleep
8. Spend time with friends and family
9. Watch a comedy
Studies have also shown that we rely on social media for our information. But social media is packed with negativity and it has problems with cyberbullying.
Many young people in particular, have taken their own lives because of bullying online. Once again, we become obsessed with a world online that is artificial, and we stop talking to our friends and family. We become isolated.
Spending less time on social media and going back to nature will do wonders for your mental health.
What I have also note is that, since covid pandemic, mental health crisis has increased. Research has also shown that, many of us were really psychologically affected by the lockdown that we experienced over the last two years or so…
So this might also explain why across the world mental health crisis has suddenly peaked. As noted in Mind. the-mental-health-mergency_a4_final.pdf (mind.org.uk)
Checklist on your mental health
1. Find out what triggers your depression and what you can do to avoid it
2. Are you feeling more depressed because of: work-related stress, relationship, how can you control the situation better.
3. When you are feeling down, do you have a tendency to isolate yourself? How would you go about changing that?
4. How long does your depression last, and why? How can you control the duration? Would going for a walk help, or maybe watching something light hearted?
Keep a diary and be honest what you write in it. You will be surprised what you learn about yourself. You will also start to spot signs of depression and can act swiftly!
Hope this helps and give you some insight. You don’t have to suffer alone!
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