“Today’s world is going crazy” is something you’d expect to hear from your neighbor’s crocheting-obsessed grandma but the 11 countries with the highest mental illness rates in the world will show you that there might be a scary bit of truth in that claim. Mental illness doesn’t necessarily have to be something as radical as full-blown, hallucination-filled bouts of paranoid schizophrenia. Clinical depression, for example – dubbed a silent killer is also a mental illness. Anxiety disorders of all shapes and colors also make the cut. If you are interested in degenerative mental disorders, give our list of the 11 countries with the highest dementia rates a look. The world of mental disorders is both extremely frightening and fascinating, depending on which side of the patient-doctor relationship you are on.
While their spreading and complexity increase nowadays, mental disorders have been a part of the human life since the developing of reason and critical thinking. The earliest known civilizations have observed and attempted treating various conditions such as “melancholia”, hysteria and many more. A prominent breakthrough of sorts for its time was observed in ancient Greece and certain kingdoms in the, then highly developed, Islamic world. The Greek developed the basis of medicine for centuries ahead called “humorism” which was a theory that the body is made of four substances, dubbed humors, which have to be in balance for a person to have a healthy body and mind. Throughout the whole duration of the middle ages, mental illness was attributed to humoral imbalance, the divine, diabolical, supernatural and whatnot, while the more developed explanations for such behaviors and their cause were still in the far future.
It wasn’t until the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that the term psychiatry was coined and the unexplainable disorders of the mind clashed with science. Along the way many misconceptions were made and many radical theories and treatments saw the light of day. However many of them, with psychiatry being still in its infancy, were more damaging than helpful. Nowadays anyone with the slightest bump in their mindset is prescribed a handful of pills but are they really necessary in all the cases? Let’s look at some countries where the answer might be “yes”.
11. Germany
Being punctual and precise as a machine takes its toll on the human psyche apparently as Germany takes the eleventh place on this list. The country of supreme engineering is ravaged by anxiety and mood disorders at an alarming rate.
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10. Lebanon
Lebanon takes the tenth spot on this list. The war and rebellions have taken their toll on both the elderly and the youngest in Lebanon, where organizations try to aid them in their battle with the post-traumatic stress disorder.
9. Mexico
Mexico’s mental health, or lack of such, puts the country in the ninth spot on our list. The country’s massive production and consumption of cocaine and various other drugs probably don’t help as well.
8. Belgium
Belgium’s people have been reportedly undergoing a massive influx of depression disorders which the country is trying to battle with social disability pensions for the more extreme cases.
7. South Africa
South Africa has many problems which could affect a person’s mind negatively. From violence to highly toxic drugs which could potentially induce mental disorders in a healthy person, the country’s arsenal of mental aggressors give is the seventh spot on the list.
6. The Netherlands
While being one of the happiest, the Netherlands is also the sixth among the 11 countries with the highest mental illness rates in the world. However, the country’s excellent healthcare is taking care of that.
5. Ukraine
Ukraine takes the fifth spot on this list while being left to battle depression and mood disorders, as well as a spike in more serious conditions. Unfortunately, the conflicts there might have worsened the problem for many.
4. France
France’s people are also among some of the demographics with a specifically high prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders as well as depression.
3. Colombia
The third spot goes to Colombia where crime and drug use are an everyday sight to behold. While not handling urbanization very well, people there are exposed to high levels of stress and violence.
2. New Zealand
Another one of the happiest nations, New Zealand, takes the second spot on this list. Albeit its high satisfaction rates, the people of this beautiful island country still manage to report a high enough incidence of various mental issues.
1. USA
Healthy mind in a healthy body – neither of which are quite popular statistically in the USA – one of the most unhealthy countries and the leader in the 11 countries with the highest mental illness rates in the world.
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