Counting substance abuse, the study found that nearly half of young people surveyed have some sort of psychiatric condition, including students and non-students.
Is this a result of over-diagnosis, or are young people more prone to these disorders than past generations?
If half of a group has a "psychiatric condition" how do we delineate what normative behavior is?
I often wonder how much of our labeling of mental issues is based on an assumption that being happy and contented with one's life is a normal state of being. Is it possible that we are so disappointed with life's tragedies that we plunge into an emotional abyss every so often, and yet somehow think it's abnormal to feel that way?
At times, it appears as if our society is uncomfortable with the suffering and depressed. We like to cheer each other up. We hope for tragedy to pass us by, or at least pass through quickly if it must come our way. We worry when people we know mourn, or don't bounce back immediately from circumstances.
Perhaps, we don't recognize that a portion of the disorders, psychiatric conditions, and depressive episodes which are diagnosed are, in some sense, "normal".
Are our expectations too high when it comes to "normal" moods and mental health?
