{"id":6,"date":"2013-01-16T16:10:32","date_gmt":"2013-01-16T16:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/?p=6"},"modified":"2024-04-11T05:42:23","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T11:42:23","slug":"why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are so many people depressed?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So we asked our Uncommon Practitioners this question on <a title=\"Uncommon Practitioners Facebook page\" href=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/uncommonpractitioners\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">our Facebook page<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2018Why do you think depression has become so much more prevalent in the last 50 years? What is it about our society that has changed so much?\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We were so impressed at the energy and insight of the responses (88 at the time of writing) that we decided to summarize them here.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than one answer being the &#8216;right one&#8217; or the only one, I see your informed replies as vital parts of a whole &#8216;mosaic&#8217; of possible depression causes.<\/p>\n<h3>Prefer to watch instead?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NLw-eqOMCqs?si=M3W9usnKDWh4xHC4&amp;rel=0\" title=\"Watch Why are so many people depressed?\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2>Disconnected Communities<\/h2>\n<p>Twenty-seven percent of the practitioners blamed disconnected communities &#8211; and we know that the need for the connection to community is certainly an important human primal need.<\/p>\n<p>It was suggested by you that people used to live in closer communities, be closer to nature or belong to a faith. Certainly feeling connected to something greater than oneself is protective of mental and even physical health. And in \u2018primitive\u2019 cultures that still retain a strong sense of connection and community, depression cases are practically unknown.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_13\" style=\"width: 646px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UncommonPractitioners\/posts\/471396826249755\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13 \" src=\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/facebook-depression-discussion1.gif\" alt=\"Depression discussion on Facebook\" width=\"636\" height=\"251\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-13\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Our Uncommon Practitioners discuss the increase in depression on Facebook<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Materialism<\/h2>\n<p>Quite a lot of people talked about the pressure to \u2018keep up\u2019 in a world which increasingly encourages materialism. They talked about how we live in a \u2018me me me\u2019 society which is why people feel isolated or disconnected from others.<\/p>\n<p>And some doubted whether depression had really increased over the last fifty years &#8211; they said perhaps there was just an increased reporting in cases and that public acceptance made it more ok to seek help.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, depression rates have gone up 1000% since the end of World War Two (1). While the research into the increase in depression does take into account both the increase in acceptance of the illness and the number of diagnoses, it also looks at the increased suicide and attempted suicide rate in our modern society. These statistics are so high it really does seem that depression genuinely has and is still increasing. And, as I\u2019ve said, this is particularly obvious when you look at depression and suicide rates in traditional societies today, compared to our industrialized one. Depression is practically nonexistent in traditional societies, but skyrocketing in ours.<\/p>\n<h2>Unrealistic Expectations<\/h2>\n<p>Clare Waters commented that today\u2019s society makes people miserable because there\u2019s \u201cpressure to have the perfect skinny body and a fat bank account.\u201d A nice summing up, I thought, of skewed expectations of what really leads to well being. Others also mentioned the huge media pressure to be &#8220;perfect&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Fourteen percent mentioned \u201cthe media\u201d &#8211; meaning 24\/7 news saturation, and constant stories of suffering. And it was also mentioned that because of technological changes there was \u2018pressure to be connected.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>I think there\u2019s a lot in this.<\/p>\n<p>Depression rides off the back of fearful and pessimistic expectations, expectations which can be engineered through simplistic, materialistic messages from the media and others around you who have also been heavily influenced by our \u2018skinny body\/fat bank account, consume to be happy\u2019 culture.<\/p>\n<p>Talking of consuming, mention was also made of how antidepressant products are very freely available but don\u2019t work very often &#8211; this is something I will address in my video series.<\/p>\n<h2>Diet<\/h2>\n<p>30% of commenters suggested changes in diet over the last fifty years &#8211; particularly that mass consumption of processed nutritionally defunct foods is fueling depression.<\/p>\n<p>Oh and I loved this one &#8211; Lara Eardley urged us to have more sex. Certainly we all share the need for both intimacy and healthy pleasures. Although to be fair Lara also said much more than this, that the best things in life are free, that we should admire the beauty in nature such as a starry night, and stop and relax and enjoy the moment. I think we could all reclaim our appreciation of the beauty of the world. Certainly I&#8217;ve noticed that as clients start to leave depression behind they do begin to connect with the healthy pleasures, and the beauty of the world.<\/p>\n<p>I see depression as being caused in part by all these things and more. Partly caused by the environment and partly caused by individual psychology, trained and shaped by experience. \u2018Happiness is found within\u2019 may be true but the inside is nurtured by the outside and environment matters &#8211; even a plant needs water and sunlight to help fulfil its potential.<\/p>\n<h4>Learn more about what causes depression and how to treat it with our course How to Lift Depression Fast. <a href=\"\/blog\/how-to-lift-depression-fast-course\/\">Read more about it here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We asked our Uncommon Practitioners this question on our Facebook page and the response was fantastic with many wise words shared. Rather than one answer being the &#8216;right one&#8217; or the only one, I see your informed replies as vital parts of a whole &#8216;mosaic&#8217; of possible depression causes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","filesize_raw":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why are so many people depressed?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why are so many people depressed?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We asked our Uncommon Practitioners this question on our Facebook page and the response was fantastic with many wise words shared. Rather than one answer being the &#8216;right one&#8217; or the only one, I see your informed replies as vital parts of a whole &#8216;mosaic&#8217; of possible depression causes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark Tyrrell&#039;s Therapy Skills\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UncommonPractitioners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UncommonPractitioners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-16T16:10:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-11T11:42:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/depression-discussion-graph-featured.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"165\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"164\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Tyrrell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Tyrrell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Tyrrell\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/384537a77857ce85260c20cb3451f0c4\"},\"headline\":\"Why are so many people depressed?\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-16T16:10:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-11T11:42:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/\"},\"wordCount\":772,\"commentCount\":46,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/384537a77857ce85260c20cb3451f0c4\"},\"keywords\":[\"depression\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Depression\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/\",\"name\":\"Why are so many people depressed?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-16T16:10:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-11T11:42:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/why-has-depression-become-so-much-more-prevalent\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Mark Tyrrell's Therapy Skills\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Depression\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/category\/depression-2\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Why are so many people depressed?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Mark Tyrrell&#039;s Therapy Skills\",\"description\":\"Free therapy techniques from Uncommon Knowledge\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/384537a77857ce85260c20cb3451f0c4\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/384537a77857ce85260c20cb3451f0c4\",\"name\":\"Mark Tyrrell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9fac4029c2f9902c32de5e973d7fd082?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9fac4029c2f9902c32de5e973d7fd082?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Tyrrell\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unk.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Psychology is my passion. 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