The Reasons Behind Mental Illness and Disorders
The number of cases involving mental illness of patients has increased across the globe. Many of these mental illnesses and disorders are not recognized and treated appropriately which resulted in creating challenges for the patients and their family and friends (Cattaneo and Riva 169-174). The mentally challenged people find it difficult to live a normal life in society, and they are more likely to face challenges such as lack of confidence, anxiety, depression, and others. It becomes difficult for people who suffered from these disorders to complete their day to day tasks. The growing number of mentally ill people has raised many questions regarding the reasons which resulted in causing mental illnesses. The lifestyle of people is a major contributing factor which resulted in increasing the number of mentally ill patients. One of the key issues which are increasing mental disorders is the consumption of antidepressants. The consumption of antidepressants has become a part of many people’s lives which is a contributing factor to the growing number of mental disorders in people (Vancampfort et al. 343-352). Daily or excessive use of antidepressants causes serious health-related issue in which mental disorder is included. The thesis will argue that the consumer of antidepressants is a major reason which has increased the number of mentally ill patients globally and this issue can be resolved by making changes in people’s lifestyle.
Every antidepressant has a potential negative impact on a person who is consuming the drug which can have various side effects and mental disorders are one of those side effects. The number of mental patients includes globally. In 2016, more than 1.1 billion people were facing a mental or substance use disorder. In the United States, there are more than 44 million adults who have a mental health condition (MHA). These numbers show that the issue of mental illness has increased which is affecting a large number of people all around the world. The consumption of antidepressants is a key reason for the increase in these numbers due to its side effects such as decreased alertness, suicidal feelings, sexual problems, hypomania, serotonin syndrome and others. Most of these side effects are directly linked with the mental health of the person who is taking antidepressant (Lewer et al. 221-226). It shows that the use of antidepressant resulted in increasing side effects of people which makes them more prone to mental illnesses than compared to others. People who use antidepressant drugs on a daily basis are more likely to see these side effects which resulted in increasing their chances of suffering from a mental disorder.
The popularity of the internet has increased depression among people, and it forces them to use antidepressant to relieve their pain which makes them addicted to them. According to the World Health Organization, depression is a common illness across the globe, and more than 300 million people are affected by this illness. From this 300 million people, 16.2 million adults are from the United States (Morin). It shows that the rate of depression has increased significantly in the past few decades. The popularity of the internet, particularly social media sites, plays a crucial role in this growth. Excessive use of social media sites leads to depression in adults as well as children. Recent studies have found that the people who spend most of their time on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram are shown to have substantially higher rate of reported depression from 13 to 66 percent (Miller). The popularity of smartphones and other wearable devices has made it easier for people to always stay connected to social media sites which increase the threat of depression as well. People think more about their online image than their real image which makes it difficult for them to live normally; the use of antidepressants assist them in relieving this stress which also makes them addicted (Vancampfort et al. 343-352).
The Role of Antidepressants in Increasing Mental Disorders
Many studies argue that lack of nutrition diet and unhealthy lifestyle is a major reason of increasing number of mental patients because they are unable to cope up with the stress which they face at work and home. Cattaneo and Riva (169-174) provided that there are more people who live unhealthy lives rather than those who take antidepressants which makes it a bigger reason for increasing number of mental patients. However, antidepressants are highly addictive drugs, and they make it easier for people with mood disorders to stay relaxed. People use antidepressants in order to treat depression and other mood disorders; it is easier for them to get a prescription for antidepressant through a doctor’s approval (Vancampfort et al. 343-352). The side effects of antidepressants are much higher which means that people who take them are more likely to suffer a mental disorder than compared to those who live an unhealthy life. The popularity of this drug has made it easily available on a global stage. They work life painkillers or other addictive drugs which make their patients rely on them. The patient also has to increase the consumption of antidepressant in order to get the same effect the next time, like all addictive drugs, which makes it easier for them to become addicted to antidepressant as well.
In order to resolve this issue, the people should involve in their work, and they should help each other to overcome their problems rather than using this medication. People who are already addicted to antidepressant should try to keep themselves busy in other things (Cattaneo and Riva 169-174). In the beginning, they will find it very difficult to stay normal without this drug; however, with proper support and willpower, they will be able to resolve their depression. If they get involved in their work, then they shift their focus from depressing factors which assists in eliminating the same. Similarly, people should help each other for issues such as depression rather than using antidepressant. Parents should not let their children excessively use social media sites, and they should not let them use antidepressant in case they feel depressed (Lewer et al. 221-226). They should involve in their life and emotionally support them rather than using this medication. Therefore, the first step is to increase the involvement in work or studies to shift the focus from the topic which is causing depression. The second step is that the patient should avoid activities such as use of social media which causes depression. The third step is help and support from family, friends and medical professionals who should avoid prescribing antidepressant and they should rather engage with the patients to eliminate their depression. The last step is living an overall healthy lifestyle by eating healthy food and exercising on a regular basis.
In conclusion, the number of mentally ill patients is increasing on a global stage, and one of the reasons for this growth is the use of antidepressant by people. There are many factors such as use of social media sites, work pressure and others which causes stress and depression among people due to which they get antidepressant to eliminate depression. However, they are more likely to get addicted to antidepressant because it gives them pleasure for a certain period and they are able to resolve their problems for some time. After termination of the effect of the drug, they are more likely to consume it again to get same effect which resulted in increasing its side effects. Although unhealthy lifestyle also causes mental disorders, however, antidepressants are more addictive which increases the number of mentally ill patients. Various steps which people can take to solve this problem include involvement in work, avoiding activities which cause depression, support from family and friends and an overall healthy lifestyle. Avoiding antidepressant and living a healthy lifestyle will reduce the number of mentally ill patients all around the world.
References
Cattaneo, A., and M. A. Riva. 2016. “Stress-induced mechanisms in mental illness: a role for glucocorticoid signalling.” The Journal of steroid biochemistry and molecular biology 160: 169-174.
Lewer, Dan, Claire O’reilly, Ramin Mojtabai, and Sara Evans-Lacko. 2015. “Antidepressant use in 27 European countries: associations with sociodemographic, cultural and economic factors.” The British Journal of Psychiatry 207.3: 221-226.
MHA. “The state of mental health in America.” MHA. 2018. Web. 05 December 2018 < https://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/state-mental-health-america >.
Miller, Caroline. “Does Social Media cause Depression?.” Child Mind Institute. 2018. Web. 05 December 2018 < https://childmind.org/article/is-social-media-use-causing-depression/>.
Morin, Amy. “Depression Statistics Everyone should know.” Verywellmind. 2018. Web. 05 December 2018 < https://www.verywellmind.com/depression-statistics-everyone-should-know-4159056>.
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Singal, Jesse. “For 80 Years, Young Americans Have Been Getting More Anxious and Depressed, and No One Is Quite Sure Why.” The Cut. 2016. Web. 05 December 2018 < https://www.thecut.com/2016/03/for-80-years-young-americans-have-been-getting-more-anxious-and-depressed.html>.
Vancampfort, Davy, Simon Rosenbaum, Felipe Schuch, Philip B. Ward, Justin Richards, James Mugisha, Michel Probst, and Brendon Stubbs. 2017. “Cardiorespiratory fitness in severe mental illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Sports Medicine 47.2: 343-352.
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