[Excelsior]

(02-05-2012 09:13 AM)Vicious Wrote:  

Anybody want to hazard a more theoretical approach why this happens in the US? Is it merely over-diagnose or is there something in the culture that promotes mental illness?

It is the culture. It promotes endless work without self-gratification, represses sexuality (resulting in a society that wants to be sexual but cannot express it, thus creating unhealthy sexual dynamics), and was built upon a basis of strict racial stratification. Add on to this its obsession with dog-eat-dog individualism, relatively unrestrained capitalism and materialism/consumerism, and you can see where it all comes from.

This society is built to breed unhealthy people who are constantly stressed, constantly overworked, extremely materialistic, unable to really let loose and highly divided with little of the general societal cohesion you see in many parts of Europe (states that, not coincidentally, tend to maintain more in the way of social welfare). They make a lot of money (no place is better for earning than the USA-this is why people come here), but they pay the price when it comes to the quality of their life. That's the American bargain.

The story of the American Dream, which I wrote about here, puts this into even better context.

If you want to know where all of this comes from, read up a little more on America's Calvinist Puritan roots. Once you understand the nature of that ideology (and the dominant role it has played in originating and shaping the growth of this nation), it'll all begin to make sense.