How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?How common is it for people to go through their whole life without any illness (without any adjective)?
Very hard to say - do you count a cold, the flu, tonsilitis etc. What do you consider to be acute or clinical?
The same could be said about mental illness. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?(Original post by Anonymous)
How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?
Well even if someone is not going to get a diagnosed mental health condition or proper long lasting illness, I'd say mental health problems will affect most people at least sometime in their life. Whether it's something like clinical depression, schizophrenia or even just stress and feeling down for a bit. They are of course not comparable, but are both mental health problems or issues. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?Excellent point. Couldn't have put it better myself.(Original post by Jake22)
How common is it for people to go through their whole life without any illness (without any adjective)?
Very hard to say - do you count a cold, the flu, tonsilitis etc. What do you consider to be acute or clinical?
The same could be said about mental illness. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?It's meant to be 1 in 4 suffer a clinically significant mental illness at some point in there lives. So 3 in 4 would be you answer.
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?That seems very high.(Original post by MrHappy_J)
about 1 in 4 people will suffer from mental illness at some point in their lives.
This is why I find it difficult to take all 'mental illnesses' seriously. Obviously, there are many real ones, but for 25% of people to be mentally ill at some point?
When it's that high, can you say they're ill at all? It sounds like just a normal deviation. To me, it's like saying someone is ill because they're slightly taller or shorter than average. It seems odd to call something that isn't at all that unusual an illness. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?1 in 3 people will get cancer at some point in their lives.(Original post by Aspiringlawstudent)
That seems very high.
This is why I find it difficult to take all 'mental illnesses' seriously. Obviously, there are many real ones, but for 25% of people to be mentally ill at some point?
When it's that high, can you say they're ill at all? It sounds like just a normal deviation. To me, it's like saying someone is ill because they're slightly taller or shorter than average. It seems odd to call something that isn't at all that unusual an illness.
I suppose that's not an illness either. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?Mental illness is a real issue in this country and not one to be taken lightly. Most of them have a good prospect for recovery within a few months but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take them seriously, as that just makes the problem worse.(Original post by Aspiringlawstudent)
That seems very high.
This is why I find it difficult to take all 'mental illnesses' seriously. Obviously, there are many real ones, but for 25% of people to be mentally ill at some point?
When it's that high, can you say they're ill at all? It sounds like just a normal deviation. To me, it's like saying someone is ill because they're slightly taller or shorter than average. It seems odd to call something that isn't at all that unusual an illness.
Out of curiosity, what mental illnesses do you find hard to take seriously? I've heard people say this before and from my experience it's because they're very misinformed.
Also just because it's very common does not exempt it from the definition of illness. It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.Last edited by MrHappy_J; 07-05-2012 at 03:37. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?Thinking in a different way to someone else is not at all the same.(Original post by You Failed)
1 in 3 people will get cancer at some point in their lives.
I suppose that's not an illness either. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?I'm afraid mental illness is rather more than simply thinking in a different way to someone else.(Original post by Aspiringlawstudent)
Thinking in a different way to someone else is not at all the same. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?Simply providing a quote does nothing to strengthen your argument.(Original post by MrHappy_J)
Mental illness is a real issue in this country and not one to be taken lightly. Most of them have a good prospect for recovery within a few months but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take them seriously, as that just makes the problem worse.
Out of curiosity, what mental illnesses do you find hard to take seriously? I've heard people say this before and from my experience it's because they're very misinformed.
Also just because it's very common does not exempt it from the definition of illness. It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
I do not accept that someone can be 'sick' mentally if their method of thought is not uncommon. Defining thoughts or actions that are not the norm as sick is the reason that people like homosexuals were thought for much of history to be ill or could be 'cured'. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?I'm getting really tired of how lately it has been the trend on TSR to state that mental illness don't exist; or that psychologists just diagnose people who think differently as mentally ill.(Original post by Aspiringlawstudent)
Thinking in a different way to someone else is not at all the same.
Contrary to this popular opinion, psychologists and psychiatrists aren't utter morons.... They actually study how the mind works; what causes mental illness, etc. They know what the difference is between 'uncommon thinking' and a mental illness. There are hundreds of thousands of research studies on psychological disorders; what causes them; and what distinguishes them from 'unusual thinking'.
'Thinking differently' is not a mental illness. A mental illness is something that causes psychological distress, harm or disfunction.Last edited by NYU2012; 07-05-2012 at 03:58. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?So you're using homosexuality as an example of why you can't take mental illnesses seriously?(Original post by Aspiringlawstudent)
Simply providing a quote does nothing to strengthen your argument.
I do not accept that someone can be 'sick' mentally if their method of thought is not uncommon. Defining thoughts or actions that are not the norm as sick is the reason that people like homosexuals were thought for much of history to be ill or could be 'cured'.
People aren't diagnosed with a mental illness simply because the way they think is a little different to what is considered normal. Please go and do your research as you just sound ignorant. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?As to the issue of mental illnesses I find hard to accept, ADHD is one. It seems to me that is more down to a lack of bad parenting than anything else.(Original post by MrHappy_J)
Mental illness is a real issue in this country and not one to be taken lightly. Most of them have a good prospect for recovery within a few months but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take them seriously, as that just makes the problem worse.
Out of curiosity, what mental illnesses do you find hard to take seriously? I've heard people say this before and from my experience it's because they're very misinformed.
Also just because it's very common does not exempt it from the definition of illness. It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?dear god(Original post by Aspiringlawstudent)
As to the issue of mental illnesses I find hard to accept, ADHD is one. It seems to me that is more down to a lack of bad parenting than anything else.
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?Most people will experience some form of mental illness in their lives, depression being the most likely.
BUT mental illness is an umbrella term for a whole range of conditions.
And the absolute boundaries of disease blur with mental illness because after all, what is the 'normal' way of thinking or perceiving things?
So it's not an easy process to describe somebody as mentally ill. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?Do you not understand that psychologists actually conduct research on these things? It's not like they sit there and go "Oohoh!!! This sounds like a good mental illness to make up!!!"(Original post by Aspiringlawstudent)
As to the issue of mental illnesses I find hard to accept, ADHD is one. It seems to me that is more down to a lack of bad parenting than anything else.
They monitor where your attention is currently focused; they monitor what you're eyes are currently focused on; they measure your brain activity; they see what parts of the brain are active and how active they are.
ADHD is well documented and researched; people who suffer from ADHD can actually be monitored, using research techniques, and you can see that they actually have ADHD and how ADHD affects the brain.Last edited by NYU2012; 07-05-2012 at 03:56. -
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Re: How common is it for people to go their whole life without any mental illnesses?1 in 4 people isn't "most people".(Original post by Enigma.)
Most people will experience some form of mental illness in their lives, depression being the most likely.
BUT mental illness is an umbrella term for a whole range of conditions.
And the absolute boundaries of disease blur with mental illness because after all, what is the 'normal' way of thinking or perceiving things?
So it's not an easy process to describe somebody as mentally ill.
