Mental Illness is a widespread global problem and U.S has highest rate... WHY?
Mental illnesses including anxiety disorders and depression are common and under-treated in many developed and developing countries, with the highest rate found in the United States, according to a study of 14 countries.
Based on face-to-face diagnostic surveys in the homes of 60,463 adults, the study found that mental ailments affect more than 10 percent of people queried in more than half the countries surveyed.
Rates ranged from 26.4 percent of people in the United States to 8.2 percent of people in Italy. While Nigerians appeared to have the lowest prevalence of mental illness — 4.7 percent — the researchers think the actual number is likely much higher since residents of the violence-prone West African nation may be hesitant to confide in strangers.
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I found the URL Catholic definition of insanity interesting reading .... it might also lead to an interesting discussion ... Catholicism is the only religion that I know of that defines insanity as such and does not use the more apt term mental illness. Catholicism withholds spiritual benefits from those so afflicted denying them Extreme Unction ?? ... In all of my Protestant background, it practices that mental illness is no different than any other physical illness with regard to eligibility for spiritual benefits as extended by it....
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EINSTEIN'S Definition of Insanity
July 1st, 2010by Editor
The genius Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". By this definition, I am concerned that our intellectual elites have become insane.
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Islam and Insanity....
(termed Mental Illness) .... Insanity in Islam is a legal term .... and used in legal proceedings and is different than Mental Illness
http://www.smilecan.org/mental-illness-and-islam/comment-page-1 (one of the more enlightened definitions I have discovered in my research on the subject)
......Mental illness is broadly defined as a disorder that affects a person's cognitive, social, emotional and/or behavioural state or abilities (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Islam views mental illness as a condition that results from an unbalanced lifestyle (diet, sleeping patterns, spiritual activities, and remembrance of God) or an unbalanced body (Rahman, 1998). Many prevalent definitions of mental illness are related to the culture of geographic areas. Popular beliefs in Middle Eastern, African and Asian cultures view mental illness as: a punishment from God; a result of possession of evil spirits (Jinn); the effects of evil eye; and the effects of evil in objects that are transferred to the individual (the evil is put into the object by someone with malicious intent) (Stein, 2000; Pridmore & Pasha, 2004). Traditionally, Islam does not link all mental illnesses to supernatural causes (Rahman). Furthermore, one of the early Muslim scholars in psychiatric health care, Ibn Sina, rejected the popular notion that mental illnesses originated from evil spirits (Pridmore & Pasha). It is important to note that supernatural causes to illnesses are widely acknowledged and are considered very real within Islam. However, as a Muslim community, we need to recognize mental illness as a legitimate medical condition that is distinct from illnesses of a supernatural nature. In this way, individuals can acknowledge or accept their mental illness and seek treatment with more community support and less stigma associated with their diagnoses.
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