America has the highest rates of mental illness in the world, WHO says

[Winston]

Overall, America has the highest rates of:

-- America has the highest rates of mental illness in the world, and the highest rate of loneliness and depression as well. According to the World Health Organization, if you grow up in America, you have a 50 percent change of developing a mental disorder.
-- America has the highest rates of obesity, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. It is considered the sickest nation in the developed world.
-- America has the highest prison population in the world, with 2 million people now incarcerated. No healthy sane normal society would have that many people in prison.
-- America has the highest homicide by gun rate among industrialized nations. See the Michael Moore film "Bowling for Columbine" (availble on YouTube).
-- America has the highest rate of school bullying in the world too. There are so many insecure screwed up kids from screwed up families that need to bully others, especially the "nice kids". Even American movies depict this insane aspect of schools. Thus, if you are going to raise your kids to be "nice good boys" they will likely be bullied and harassed in American schools. That may sound crazy and insane, but it's true. No joke. If you don't believe me, then Google "School bullying in America" and you will be shocked at how many hits come up. Now try the same for other countries. You will see that there is no comparison.

Obviously all the above means that America is a very f***ed up, dysfunctional, insane and unnatural society and culture. Why would you want to raise your kids, bring a foreign bride, or move to such a sick culture? Think about it. It simply doesn't make sense. If a ship is sinking, people are supposed to GET OFF it, not get on it. To do the latter would be insane and irrational.

[S_Parc]

Earlier TV shows didn't seem to help, as they made life look like some big adventure story ...



But it's closer to the following show ...

[Winston]

Not really. Not all rural parts contain beautiful nature. And not all small towns are the same.

You don't meet enough nature lovers to know what I'm talking about. Read books by nature lovers and you will see that they say similar things. (e.g. John Muir) Nature connects you with something more authentic and true. Cities don't. It's obvious. Do more observing and you'll see what I mean.

Not all nature lovers are the same as the ones you've read in the books either. People are varied and so are their life experiences. People that enjoy nature aren't by default better human beings or more at peace with themselves. That's ridiculous. Adolf Hitler loved long walks in the forests and built a chalet called the eagle's nest so he could enjoy magnificent views of the German Alps. By your definition he must have been a fine human being spiritually in touch with himself because he was a nature lover.

I've been in lots of Americans towns and cities in the Southwest USA this past month and seen many patterns like the above. Even the park rangers in the US National Parks told me that they felt the same way about cities vs. nature. Any nature lover knows what I'm talking about. I don't think you're one of them.

Even Audrey Hepburn agreed with me. I posted a video of her talking about nature in the thread here about her.

You've never even met me before, talked to me in person, or in fact know anything about me. How do YOU know whether or not I like nature or not?

Btw just because some people spouted off some platitudes about nature to you doesn't mean your generalization of humanity is true.

It's true because 1) I've personally experienced it, and 2) because it makes sense. Cities are artificial and draw artificial people. Anyone can see this from direct observation. Nature is natural and draws authentic people. People out in nature are more friendly, relaxed and genuine. I see it everyday in the Southwest. There's a reason for that. Can you guess what it is?

I would believe my personal experiences over your cynical words any day. We don't even know who you are. So why should we give your words any credibility?

Repatriate,
I forgot to mention an important point. For the last 4 weeks, I've interacted with many small town people on a daily basis, in both Arizona and New Mexico. I've even had some meaningful down-to-earth conversations with some people. So I have a right to talk about this based on my first hand experiences. You do not. You just sit there and judge small town people without going out there and interacting with them. Therefore, you do not have a qualified opinion on this. I do.

[DanielleNguyen]

oddly don't forget the change in food. In the last 50 years mental illnesses we didn't know before came on a certain rise. I have heard a lot in America it's because of the preservatives in the food.

[Wolfeye]

A good post. I agree wtih the points Winston mentioned at the beginning, but I've also got to add Thinking By Adjucation. That "reality is what I say it is" thinking is VERY sabotaging. The belief that reality is formed by recognition is not true (if it were, no one would trip over anything in the dark or get hit by a car that they didn't see coming- no unexpected good things could ever happen, either). This style of thinking causes a baseline problem that so many things are not what they seem & this leads to lots of constant tension (P.S.- everytime you lie, whether you're trying to screw someone over or not, there's tension- this makes for a very hard environment to live in when it socially frowned-upon to not be a fence-rider). Of course this would be an issue in the constant, sometimes sub-conscious, fear of things falling-through or blowing up in your face. You never know what you can put your weight on or what's going to morph into something hostile for no reason.

Another major point is that a lot of things will wind up being low-quality. Someone is incompetant, but is DESIGNATED as being competant & they fail at whatever situation with whatever implications this has. Someone didn't do something or didn't do something as severe as the response, but yet they are DESIGNATED guilty & get a hammer dropped on them that they didn't have coming. Someone being afforded a detriment without a proportionate catalyst tends to spook people plenty & that prospect of having this situation imposed on you makes for a very agitating lifestyle.

There's also the point that there's no way to say something so that someone else can't lie or twist your words & language has to connect to something eventually. This can make "making your case" a tough thing to pull off- especially if someone believes that something has to be lie-proof in order to be true (this might not be a distinct thing, it might just be the way things are functionally sized-up for them). The idea that something isn't true because there's the potential for someone to lie using the same words or because someone can argue as a response is not accurate. Add to all this that somoene might see agreement as defeat & just keep arguing no matter what. This isn't a sign that they are right, it's just a sign that they have endurance when it comes to being wrong.

Tack on somoene "constructing reinforcement" as a general trait (they tell themselves things to make themselves feel better, they think anything that clashes with a preconceived notion is false, avoiding information that clashes with this notion, seeing whoever brought up the information as crazy, etc...), because that's also a fairly common thing here. Now you have numerous, serious, interlocking foundational problems that hold a massive amount of sway over how situations develop. This would all make someone very paranoid, since it's a lot like living in a minefield.

Another thing I've noticed is that this sabotaging influence is something a lot of other people notice, but don't seem to want to demonize or abandon. It's like a commitment to failure or a phobia of success. So many times it's possible for someone to pull a U-turn before something turns into a problem & it's just not done. It's something that makes one wonder if it was really just a camouflaged act of malice, since it's definitely not an accident. All these problems & no societal counteraction or even individual opposition. Makes for a very bleak environment when you're hoping that things will change.

[Wolfeye]

Holy shit, I forgot about the food! Yeah, I'd add that in. Also the various things that are in medicines (which sometimes work in confluence with each other) & the fact that people that work in psychology tend to have a "find the fault" mentality. There's not much problem with fabrication, apparently. Works that way in the medical fields & in law enforcement, too.

[Entrepreneur]

_

[Winston]

A post by Henry king in our Facebook group about mental illness in America and silicon valley:

"America has 4.5% of the world's population but it consumes 80% of the psychiatric drugs in the world. America's case of mental illnesses is the worst in OECD for sure if not the worst in the world. But it does not end there! If you go to Silicon Valley, then the mental illnesses are the worst in America based on my personal experiences.
If you talk about fakery, phoniness, insincerity, America is the king of the world. However, it still does not end there. If you talk about fakery, phoniness, insincerity, then Silicon Valley is the king of America unmatched by anywhere in America based on my personal experience."

[starchild5]

A post by Henry king in our Facebook group about mental illness in America and silicon valley:

"America has 4.5% of the world's population but it consumes 80% of the psychiatric drugs in the world. America's case of mental illnesses is the worst in OECD for sure if not the worst in the world. But it does not end there! If you go to Silicon Valley, then the mental illnesses are the worst in America based on my personal experiences.
If you talk about fakery, phoniness, insincerity, America is the king of the world. However, it still does not end there. If you talk about fakery, phoniness, insincerity, then Silicon Valley is the king of America unmatched by anywhere in America based on my personal experience."

The problem is also with Asian's who get conned by the out side beauty of "BETTER LIFE" in the west never knowing the darkness that lies beneath it.

Asian DNA can never adjust with the singular life of west. We need everything...Good food, Good job, Good wife, Good friends, Good climate etc etc...Lack of one causes instability in us which leads to depression and drugs....We were born with everything, its only in the last few hundred years that we have to do the so called "compromise" to get good things in life.

The Asian guy who jumped was a foodie blogger but what pushed him eventually was women. We cannot compromise on one thing...It will eventually come back to bite us.

I need women but I cannot compromise on food, climate, job or friends as well. It will make me crazy.. Asia is still the place where you can have it all. The lacking equation was Money and Jobs...which Asia seems to be fast catching up with the west.

Asian's are deluding themselves living in the west, thinking they have it all..THEY DON"T...Good Life is only a part of the equation..You are much more than that....eventually other things will come to bite you up...Its on a DNA level now...

[Wolfeye]

Don't know about it being an Asian DNA thing. I look for all that, too. Not to mention that it doesn't really make sense to compromise with a lot of things, since you're simply not getting what you're looking for.

[IraqVet2003]

Winston, you are on point about describing America as one of the most mentally insane places in the world!!!! But I would like to add that in the U.S. many hard working people don't get a decent vacation, paid leave, holidays, or time off (unless you work for a bank, major corporation, or government agency). And even so when working for them you would get a mostly 2 weeks off. This contributes greatly to too much stress and burnout!!! Thus adding to the mental illness issues in the U.S. However, in other industrialized countries such as Germany, France, Sweden, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, etc. their citizens and workers can have 4-6 weeks or more off and travel more frequently.

[zboy1]

Starchild, you are exactly right! Asians belong in Asia, not the West. Take it from an Asian American whose happier living in Asia.

[MattHanson1990]

Not really. Not all rural parts contain beautiful nature. And not all small towns are the same.

You don't meet enough nature lovers to know what I'm talking about. Read books by nature lovers and you will see that they say similar things. (e.g. John Muir) Nature connects you with something more authentic and true. Cities don't. It's obvious. Do more observing and you'll see what I mean.

Not all nature lovers are the same as the ones you've read in the books either. People are varied and so are their life experiences. People that enjoy nature aren't by default better human beings or more at peace with themselves. That's ridiculous. Adolf Hitler loved long walks in the forests and built a chalet called the eagle's nest so he could enjoy magnificent views of the German Alps. By your definition he must have been a fine human being spiritually in touch with himself because he was a nature lover.

I've been in lots of Americans towns and cities in the Southwest USA this past month and seen many patterns like the above. Even the park rangers in the US National Parks told me that they felt the same way about cities vs. nature. Any nature lover knows what I'm talking about. I don't think you're one of them.

Even Audrey Hepburn agreed with me. I posted a video of her talking about nature in the thread here about her.

You've never even met me before, talked to me in person, or in fact know anything about me. How do YOU know whether or not I like nature or not?

Btw just because some people spouted off some platitudes about nature to you doesn't mean your generalization of humanity is true.

It's true because 1) I've personally experienced it, and 2) because it makes sense. Cities are artificial and draw artificial people. Anyone can see this from direct observation. Nature is natural and draws authentic people. People out in nature are more friendly, relaxed and genuine. I see it everyday in the Southwest. There's a reason for that. Can you guess what it is?

I would believe my personal experiences over your cynical words any day. We don't even know who you are. So why should we give your words any credibility?

Los Alamos, New Mexico is a small town located in beautiful nature, but it's just as plastic as California is. But if you go to Santa Fe or Albuquerque, which are bigger cities of course, you'll see that they're more authentic. Even El Paso, Texas is more authentic compared to Los Alamos.

[Moretorque]

Los Alamos is very much a government contract town with mostly college geeks at the top doing research, do you suppose this may be a lot of it ?

[MattHanson1990]

Los Alamos is very much a government contract town with mostly college geeks at the top doing research, do you suppose this may be a lot of it ?

Yeah I agree