I think this article gets closer to the truth of what is causing the upward trend in mental ill-health throughout societies.

“the market and its corresponding social upheaval. Industrialisation, urbanisation and growing labour mobility have resulted in looser ties between family and communities. This decline has meant many of the old functions performed by the extended family are now performed by the state or the private sector. The childcare operators on the rich list are a testament to this trend.”

“better described as affluenza than depression. It is a kind of dissatisfaction with the complexities of modern life that now gets medicalised as anxiety or neurosis.

Once the general causes of widespread mental ill-health are identified, then the next step would be to identify solutions.

Hopefully in future years, we will not become a “THX 1138” type society, where people can be convicted of the crime of not taking sufficient drugs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THX_1138

Dr Tanveer

Many thanks for your article.

One of my colleagues often referred to many people [over] diagnosed with clinical depression as "the walking worried" and "the walking wounded". By this she meant that many people have their social problems medicalised which then means that they take psychotropic medication and thus their poor life coping skills are condoned. Then they do not have to take responsibility for their own behaviours and poor decision making - because "I have a mental health problem".

As a community mental health nurse I often saw this and agreed with my colleague above. I did not refer such people to a psychiatrist. I often said to these clients: "You are not depressed. Yes, you get down in the dumps as we all do. Rather, you have a living and loving problem". I referred them to living skills programs. They didn't bounce back into the system - so I guess I was on the right track.

The over diagnosis of "personaliity disorders" in my view, is alarming. I think this occurs as a result of inexperienced clinical diagnosis by tertiary educated nurses who have limited experience and understanding of major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression (true psychiatric nurses are a retiring and dying race). And by GPs who find it quicker and easier to give a quasi psychiatric diagnosis and a script, since they do not have the time to listen to the person's social and emotional needs (and the drug company kickbacks are also important).

And yes, people with drug (including alcohol) problems do clog up the system, taking valuable time away from those clients who have profound mental illness.

But having said that, a large group of drug addicted clients these days experience "drug induced psychosis" which clearly requires psychiatric expertise in the acute phase. That's a real catch 22.

I think there is a crisis. But my handle on it is somewhat different. I think that the crisis has a lot to do with people making psychiatric diagnoses who are not sufficiently qualified or experienced.

Cheers
Kay

Thanks Dr Ahmed. Really enjoyed the article. Please don't give up the fight. I wish the editors had titled the article "Mental health issues complicated by affluenza" or something besides "Blame Society."

- Eric Claus

very interesting article.

there are a number of chapters in Anthony Vidler's "warped spaces" that concern the particular phsycological developments and anxiety produced by modern conditions, mostly in relation to architecture and the modern urban space, if anyone is interested in another aspect of tanveer's argument.

appologies if it sounds like im approacing this from one aspect but i believe that the effect on the mind of idenifyibly modern spaces, the mall, airport, generic office space, the cinema multiplex, which architect rem koolhass refers to as 'junk spaces', being fluid, indefined, non directional, non specific in their program, everchanging and essentialy timeless, have an alienating effect on the mind which should be considerd along with economic and social aspects of modernism.

Excellent article and I tend to agree with what Tanveer said on the issue of the worried well types who present to doctors for treatment.

Whilst I have not read it, I assume that the essay in the recent "Quarterly Essay" entitled "The Worried Well" would be along similar lines.

It seems true that whilst our material 'wealth' might be increasing, our emotional and spiritual health seems to be deteriorating. My hope is that we reconsider the direction we are heading in and perhaps turn to the wisdom of those who fought in the two World Wars and ultimately to the wisdom of Christ Jesus.

Yes, an excellent article indeed from Dr Ahmed.

My only problem with it is that in glossing global industrial capitalism as "the market and its corresponding social upheaval", he unintentionally obscures much of the social etiology of the mental health conditions that he describes.

Although it's no longer fashionable, it seems to me that what he's describing is the working out in contemporary society of good old anomie and alienation, as theorised by early observers of industrial society like Marx and Durkheim.

I think that the atomisation of societies that global capitalism demands for its production and market purposes manifests in new kinds of mental health problems in individuals. Notably the decline in the salience of kinship ('extended families') and - dare I say it - religion, have diminished in the kind of mobile consumer/worker society that we are becoming. I agree that these structures that used to provide meaning, sustenance and certainty have declined in influence over individuals, and this manifests in the kinds of contemporary mental illnesses that Dr Ahmed talks about. I think this also extends to various other social pathologies like racism, crime, domestic violence etc, but that's another topic.

Depression is certainly a good example of this process, but the relationship between biological susceptibility and a pathogenic sociocultural environment remains controversial.

I'm arguing for neither the return to religion nor to failed totalitarian models of socialism. However, I think that most people would agree that there are increasing numbers of alienated individuals presenting at medical and mental health services with negative conditions that are increasingly diagnosed as mental illnesses.

Whether the mental health system can (or should have to) deal effectively with problems that have sociocultural and causes remains to be seen. I predict, that under the Howard regime's coming raft of alienating legislation (e.g. IR, 'anti-terrorism', Medicare/Health reviews etc) we're just going to see this apparent 'epidemic' of mental illness get worse.

Duck....its about time you spoke some sense :) yes.. I agree with you for a change....

The alienation, is not so much a result of capitalism, but of capitulation to secularism.

You mention quite rightly that the role of 'religion' and extended family have been compromised and even sent to the proverbial social dog house, by and large by socialist forces who believed these parts of life could be replaced by the 'State'... and what a dismal failure that idea was and continues to be.

The french have some queer atittudes to many things, but their stubbornness in retaining their 'village/small holding' approach to life is to be commended, even if in todays world it makes little economic and sustainable sense.

The mental health issues and their frequency Duck, is something you should be onto like a Pitbull on a Chiwawa as being clear evidence of ourselves experiencing the social decay manifested by the Cape York tribal group.

To me, it's as clear as if it was written in a clear blue sky in huge letters by a skywriting plane.

You did not appear to suggest any solution ? Is this a confession of only being able to observe the syptom, but not recommend medication for the illness ?

I recommend one, 'Repentance and Faith in Jesus Christ as Lord'......
You would be amazed at the social consequences. In Whales in one year, 100,000 people were added to the Church, Pubs went out of business, Mine Pit donkeys would not work because they couldn't understand the lack of abuse on them...

Society is transformed when its citizens are renewed from within.
Families will be renewed, marraiges will be revitalized, relationships will be more honest, and it will last as long as individuals continue to honor Christ as Lord of their own hearts.

'In Whales in one year..'

Hee hee, sorry to make fun of a spelling slipup Boaz, but you have to admit, that was a pretty funny mistake.

A very good article, Tanveer, but should more attention be paid to the following as being a contributing factor to mental illness.

Preservatives, additives, and chemicals in food. The use of herbicides, hormones, pesticides and enhancers in food production. The effects of processed, fast foods and saturated fats. Air and sound pollution. The growing electromagnetic radiation that is prevalent in our societies. The oppressive nature of cities and their electromagnetic polluted environments.

An interesting survey was conducted in the USA a few years back, found that people who live under aircraft flight paths, had a much larger incidence of brain tumor. The closer they were to an airport, the more prevalent were the effects and increased mental disorders. A similar survey in Germany found that those that lived beside autobahns, suffered more depression than those living away from major traffic.

An airliner drops tonnes of unused fuel on what they fly over every flight, when you consider that there are hundreds of flights using the same paths over cities daily, the populance is constantly ingesting large amounts of aviation fuel, along with unburnt vehicle emmisions .

I understand the faith the the psych industry has in medication, but medication is just a suppressor of the problem, not a removal of the cause. It would be interesting to determine the number of people that commit crimes, in particular, violence whilst using psychotropic drugs.

Where would I be without your constant attention to my blunders spendo :)
thanx.. keep it up and I'll be a better speller and person.
Cheers

Thanks Boaz - I wish I could return the compliment, but as soon as you start preaching about biblical solutions to contemporary problems, you lose me and the rest of the unbelievers.

The problem isn't secularism, rather it's the lack of meaning inherent in the post-Enlightenment lifestyle and the simultaneous rise of global capitalism as the dominant paradigm. It's a bit ironic that the Reformation created the historical conditions for both the development of Protestantism and the Enlightenment. Do yourself a favour and read some Weber instead of the Scriptures. There you might discover the essential role that Protestantism played in converting mercantilism into capitalism.

Despite the fervent wishes of Christians, Muslims and other religious people who would like to turn back the clock, the ascendancy of religion ended forever with the Enlightenment. No, I'm not proposing any glib solutions to contemporary problems of alienation and anomie, but that's more honest than proposing that all will be hunky-dory if only everybody finds Jesus, or we re-establish the Caliphate, or whatever fairytale utopia your given religion demands.

I think we need to clearly identify the problems and their causes, before we have a 'prayer' of devising the solutions.

The inferior practice of psychiatry in Mental Health servicing throughout Australia evokes more calamity onto our society, then those it claims to treat.

I want to see a Royal Commission into the profession of "psychiatry". Yes, and that's on top of the present Senate’s Mental Health enquiry.

Frankly, I think we would be safer to ban the practice of "psychiatry" in Mental Health servicing, throughout Australia, because I believe the majority of psychiatrists, who work in Australia, have sold Australians out.

I find the severity of problems we have, in allocating the right type of Mental Health services, stems from the "overlap with socio-economics and the boundary between it and the social sciences".

To be clear, Mental Health relies on an ominous platform set upon organised arctic misdoings and is responsible for the recumbent perplexity that is a disadvantage to clients.

I believe the problems in Mental Health can be sourced in the capitalistic tendencies that psychiatrist experience from their own addiction to benefits they themselves get out of drugs.

Psychiatrists need more clients to legitimise their rigid existence. Without the "Mentally ill", they would be out of this kind of lucrative and presently sightless profession.

This is because in practice, psychiatrists are more prone to imposing fanciful deceptiveness onto another, then their accused patients.

Professionally, I believe psychiatrists proceed like a prearranged plague out of control and are in need of disciplinary restraint. This occurs because psychiatrists have too much power, too few regulated protections to safeguard transparency, to clients.

I find the "under-resourced" Nurses and general Mental Health helping professionals are doing their best to cope with the increased degree of social ill, in Australia.

I also agree with Kay and others for their sanity. “I think that the crisis has a lot to do with people making psychiatric diagnoses who are not sufficiently qualified or experienced”.

That Mental Health problems are overloaded by the automation of the psychiatrists miscarried diagnoses. This is because, unlike other professionals, psychiatrists are able to legally lean on the indolent surrogate substitution of care, through the systematic allocation, of too many drugs.

Mahatma
I take your points about the historical conditions for global capitalism, but totally reject that it has any basis in Scripture. I say its totally man made. See the end of Acts 2 for the first clear example of 'Christian communism' :) go on.. be adventurous.. actually read it. (please)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=51&chapter=2&version=31

If you give me a specific reference in Weber, a link. I'll read some at least.

I'm glad your honest enough to admit you don't have answers, but your solutions are begging one in terms of social naturalism if I can use the term. "Look at how things are, and analyze them and find a solution in naturalistic terms" it seems.

The problem is, this takes an approach which is clearly at odds with the vast majority of human consciousness and habit. "God aware"

Solomon said it clearly "He has placed eternity in our hearts, but not so as we can know the beginning or the end of it"

You mentioned 'lack of meaning' as a symptom of our contemporary condition. Please have a read of this

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=25&chapter=1&version=31

The 2nd verse says :

"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."

Read on for his exploration of life and the ultimate solution.

I should not 'lose you' as soon as I mention scripture, we should engage on this. Give me equivalent portions of your favorite authors and I'll read.

blessings

Boaz
To borrow something from another forum :-
”All work, no play, no religion, no children, no family, no sense of identity, and of course no sex.... Just great”

Now in our society, families have been decimated, various religions have been decimated, unions have been decimated, and government is becoming more and more remote.

So this leaves people very much alone, isolated, and insular. If they have a problem regards something, who can they turn to?

They can’t turn to a family member, a church member, a co-worker, a union member, or a government member. The problem keeps churning within them, drags them down, and eventually they resort to going to a doctor, or they can be sent to a doctor by someone else.

The doctor cannot be a family member, a church member, a co-worker, a union member, a government member, or even a friend, and the doctor only has a 10 minute appointment time available, so they often prescribe drugs, which may / may not work, and many can have detrimental side affects.

Added to that would be other issues including improper diet, lack of exercise, pollution, consumerism, a disconnection from nature, worries regards bills and loan repayments, too much drug consumption, a barrage from electronic media, job insecurity, long work hours etc, and it’s a wonder society has held up so well to date.

But depression (which is probably like emotional exhaustion) is forecast to be the main illness besetting people in future years (rather understandably), and I think it is starting to become more evident in people at a younger and younger age also.

Timkins

What a thoughtful and interesting post!

I particularly enjoyed your last paragraph.

Cheers
Kay

Tim.. some interesting points.

I want to tackle one point in particular.

"They don't have anyone to turn to"....

Tonight, I'll be heading off to Bible study. The hosts 19 yr old daughter is now 6 months pregnant.. a close relative of theirs aged 15 committed suicide a week back, The host also has a debilitating sickness limiting him mostly to a wheel chair.
Two of our other attendees have broken marraiges, and one other is pretty ok, a great veteran runner, teacher etc and then there is me, where my biggest problem is my spare tyre, which now that the weather is better, I'm working on almost daily.

We are like an extended family, we support each other, encourage, build up, not in place of family, but supplemental to it. We derive strength from Scripture, and yes, we struggle to be all that we know we should be under God. But with all our weakness and failure, there is a sense of love and assurance that meets us in our deepest region. It goes far beyond family, society and health.

The Church in China, began with more graves of missionary kids than converts, but now is many millions strong, grew largely in house churches.

As Kay pointed out, your last paragraph is important -'depression'. If I may venture a theory :) Depression arises for either medical reasons, or more commonly I think, thru all the things you listed, the central one being a lack of hope......

Which leads me to....
Romans5
1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the HOPE of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Kinda says it all :)

Well said Timkins, thank you, have a great day.

I agree - Timkins, that was a perceptive and even sensitive post. I'm glad to see that your apparent fixation with women and feminism doesn't extend to all areas of your thinking. Perhaps your insights about mental health are related in some way to your personal experiences with the opposite sex?

Boaz - I had a look at your first link, but I'm afraid that 'talking in tongues' and the 'last days' don't cut it for me in terms of addressing contemporary anomie and its relation to mental illness.

As for Weber, I'm mildly astonished that you're not aware of him - considering his huge influence in the fields of political economy and the sociology of religion. His most relevant work in terms of this conversation is probably 'The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism' (1905).

For a precis go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protestant_Ethic_and_the_Spirit_of_Capitalism .

For a full text version, go to http://www.ne.jp/asahi/moriyuki/abukuma/weber/world/ethic/pro_eth_frame.html .

The language is perhaps a little heavy going, but IMHO nowhere near as obscure as the biblical stuff that you post! :)

Mahatma Duck
You are glad
You have a fixation.
You have minimal thinking.
Your insights are related to your personal experiences with the opposite sex.

The contents of my posts are real and happening, and if you closely study the situation, it is a mixture of Marxism, Feminism and Capitalism.

Both Marxism and Feminism have wanted the elimination of marriage and the destruction of the nuclear family. This is well under way. Childless Couples now outnumber Couples with Dependant Children, but Single Person Households are expected to become the most common household type in a few years. That will leave many people alone, without much human contact or support, thereby exposing them to greater risk of mental illness.

Feminism has been highly anti-male, creating much gender alienation, and various ant-male institutions such as Family Law have indirectly created significant amounts of mental illness and distress in society.

Ironic that married women are now half as likely to have mental illness as divorced or separated women. Children are also being badly affected by mental illness, with numerous studies identifying family break-up and living in single parent families as being primary contributing factors.

Feminism has also wanted more promiscuity, (so as to sexually liberate women), but ironically also, married women normally report much better sex lives than single women, with much lower risks of STD’s and unwanted pregnancy also.

Marxism and Feminism have also been quite ant-religious, and congregation numbers in many churches have fallen over the years, leaving many people without forms of meditation and prayer, which appear necessary for good mental health.

Capitalism has contributed to the reduction in union membership, leaving many people quite isolated and without much support or security in their work place. Capitalism has also contributed to much consumerism, pollution, destruction of natural environments, long work hours, high loan repayments etc.

The whole thing is rather an unhealthy mix one would suspect, but I certainly don’t see the doctrines of Feminism as being of any real help in overcoming such problems within our society, as Marxist/Feminist doctrine has created many of them.

Oh dear, the return of the prattling parrot - I thought it was too good to be true.

Just when it looked like we could have a decent discussion about a very good article, we get a Timkins Marxism/Feminism rant, that - as per usual - betrays his almost complete ignorance about those ideologies. Back to the 'loopy' slogans...

However, I suppose it does illustrate something about alienation and mental health!

Mahatma Duck,
You are a rattling parrot.
You do not look.
You do not have a decent discussion.
You rant.
You are as per usual.
You betray you complete ignorance.
You are loopy.
You do not illustrate something about alienation and mental health.

You rarely substantiate anything, but you excel in calling other people various names.

If you don’t like the term "Marxist/Feminist", then you can call those ideologies by whatever name you like I suppose, but those ideologies are definitely occurring, and very few people who often call themselves “feminist”, seem to oppose those ideologies, or have ever made mention of the harmful effects that definitely result.

They seem to want to continue to pretend, that their ideologies are of benefit to all.

Timkins,
I would respectfully take issue with a few of your points:

- “ant-male institutions such as Family Law”
I do not think that you could reasonably say that the Court is anti-male. Perhaps the law had a greater bias when formed and needs (indeed I say does need) reform and more balance. But anti-male? When my parents split, my father was ordered to pay $90 a month to help support 4 children, when my mother was a nurse and remained alone her entire life. This is anti-male?

- “Children are also being badly affected by mental illness, with numerous studies identifying family break-up and living in single parent families as being primary contributing factors”
Can you point to these studies? I grew up part of an organisation that supported single parents and while there were always problem children, there were no more or less than I saw in 2-parent families. Certainly most single parent children I know are fine.

- “leaving many people without forms of meditation and prayer, which appear necessary for good mental health.”
Just because one does not adhere to a religion does not mean that one cannot meditate for health. In fact many choose a form of non-religious meditation to calm the mind and clear it of worry, leaving one able to think more clearly and deal with life more effectively. Religion may have it’s place for those who need more than internal support but it is no longer the fix-all it once was, as more people are educated and intelligent enough to work the world out for themselves.

Finally, Timkins, I would point out that you blame both Marxism and Capitalism for the decline in social attitudes. So which is it? As they are opposite sides of the economic coin, which is it?

I think it more likely that rapid changes in technology, social values and gender roles (perhaps) are the causes, rather than attributing the problems to an ‘ism’ is more likely.

An excellent article by Miranda Devine in SMH entitled “Lazy thinkers still defend bad ideas”, is about capitalism and globalism, but discusses ideas of much wider relevance.

http://smh.com.au/news/opinion/lazy-thinkers-still-defend-bad-ideas/2005/10/12/1128796586029.html

The article is full of gems, including the following:

“But human history suggests we don't learn so easily from our mistakes; that bad ideas somehow morph and linger, despite overwhelming rational evidence against them.

People who have spent a lifetime defending bad ideas seem to lose the capacity for logical thought. When the weight of evidence against their bad idea reaches critical mass, rather than say, "We were wrong", their tactic is to say, "Oh, that debate is over", and to adapt their language so as to appear to have rejected the bad idea, while clinging to it secretly.”

Meditation is a state of the mind, it should be used for gaining control of mind and body, so that you are aware of the influences that attack you from within and without. Technology and its speedy development hasn't kept pace with the effects this has upon people.

Only a few year ago, people were kept informed by their local newspapers. Now we are bombarded by every form of communication possible, it is a worldwide aspect we receive. This clutters the mind, and destabilises it, add that to the negatives of the food we eat and how they effect our biological and chemical balances, no wonder more and more people are going loopy, ( no pun intended Timkins).

Psychotropic drugs, don't help, but sedate the mind and body in an attempt to cloak the confusion. There is no cure in that. If psychiatry was a successful method, then we would see better results, but it isn't. As tension grows throughout the world, mental confusion will grow as peoples illusions regarding life collapse around them. Unlike the past where communities were able to isolate themselves from the realties of negative life, now it is forced down our throats by all and sundry, every minute of the day.

Is it a coincidence that religion is at the forefront of the assault on the human mind, no it is to be expected. Why, because with all illusions that are collapsing, their final acts are always to try and destroy everything before they go under. We see that with all ideologies from the past. Let's just say that the mental confusion that abounds, is just a product of the collapsing past illusions that used to control us, now they are losing this control and we are seeing the results. Because there seems to be no defined positive future for humanity at present, then things will get worse until a real sustainable future can be seen ahead.

Trying to prop up the dying delusions, will only enhance the effect and cause unnecessary suffering for all those clinging to the past and present failed ideologies.

Reason,
There can be a mixture of Marxism and Capitalism. Stalin tried to operate this way (but not very well).

The destruction of the nuclear family can even benefit certain people economically. Family break-ups provide more money for solicitors and counsellors. An increasing number of Single Person Households provides more money for housing developers and real-estate agents. But eventually most people lose, not gain, (as is currently occurring).

RE: Single Parent Families and Mental health:-. Here are excerpts from various studies and articles. There are many others with similar results, and the situation becomes quite conclusive.

Children growing up in single-parent households are twice as likely to suffer a mental illness, commit suicide or develop an alcohol-related disease than children who live with both parents.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/01/24/1042911549349.html

- After controlling for other demographic factors, children in lone-parent households are 2.5 times as likely to be sometimes or often unhappy. They are 3.3 times as likely to score poorly on measures of self-esteem.
- Among children aged five to fifteen years in Great Britain, those from lone-parent families were twice as likely to have a mental health problem as those from intact two-parent families (16% versus 8%).43
- A major longitudinal study of 1,400 American families found that 20%–25% of children of divorce showed lasting signs of depression, impulsivity (risk-taking), irresponsibility, or antisocial behaviour compared with 10% of children in intact two-parent families.
http://www.civitas.org.uk/pubs/experiments.php

Our findings of higher rates of mental health problems experienced by children one-parent and step/blended families are similar to those of recent studies in the UK and north America.
http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/afrcpapers/silburn.html

In 2001 only 14% of couple families had a weekly income less than $600 (gross), but almost two-thirds (63%) of single parent families earned less than $600 a week . The lower income of single parent families is a matter of concern as this impacts directly on the potential wellbeing of children in those families.
http://www.childcomm.qld.gov.au/pdf/media/Snapshot_2005_4_family.pdf

With the exception of widows, married women have the best mental health of all the women. When age differences are adjusted, married women have better mental health than widows as well.
http://aifs.gov.au/institute/pubs/fm2002/fm62/dd.pdf

Silly me. I should have known that our mental health problems are caused by evil feminists and single mothers.

Oh my, mahatma duck, you have more mischief than even the most average miacat. We need to find a special pond for your tease, one with an equal dose of Proteus to accomadate the unique size and shape of your frolicsome splash.

Timkins, I absolutely appreciate your references here, and the value you are giving to this subject. I agree with where you are coming from, and will use this information myself, TA.

Also are you aware of the material from the UK? And Timkins, what do you think about the "Preserving Life and Dignity" Public Advocate Qld Report? I have put the links on the "something about mental health" webpage which is located in the Crime Prevention material on the front page of www.miacat.com

I also intend to put a more current page up eventually, and would be grateful of any specific research links you suggest, for such a info page.

To our sneering avian friend … ignoring the predominant ideologies that grant sole reproductive and parental rights to women while absolving them from any negative outcomes, is analogous to attemting to solve the “chicken or the egg” question without consideration of the male bird, or indeed the mutation that hatches that first so-called chicken.

One in 10 babies under the age of one was reported to the Department of Community Services last financial year on suspicion of being abused or neglected.

http://smh.com.au/news/national/one-in-ten-babies-reported-to-docs/2005/10/15/1128796715153.html

MiaCat,
I would think that the breaking up of families and single parent families will not be the only contributing factors for the projected higher rates of mental illness in future years, but with about 1 in 3 children now going through family break-up and being removed from their fathers, that alone would be enough to fill doctor’s waiting rooms, psychiatrist’s waiting rooms, counselling centres, and also jails in future years.

“would be grateful of any specific research links you suggest, for such a info page.”

For some more results of studies on children from different Family Types.
http://www.heritage.org/research/features/marriage/index.cfm
http://www.gocrc.com/research/dangers-of-sole-custody.html

Below is a summary of the Marxist / Feminist view of the traditional family.

Marxism
· Acts to control sexual behaviour
· Serves to reproduce labour power for Capitalism
· Is a safety valve for people's frustrations
· Channels and legitimates the exploitation of women
· Provides "free" services for Capitalists (reproduction of labour)
· Primary consumer of Capitalist products
Feminism
· Men exploit and oppress women within the family
· "Rationalising myths" about male / female natures legitimate male domination over women.
· Women have a service role forced on them ("unpaid servants" )
· Increasingly "Dual role": women as paid workers and unpaid housewives
http://www.sociology.org.uk/cardfam.htm

Marxist / Feminist ideology has wanted the “deconstruction” of marriage and traditional families, replacing all with de facto relationships. This is definitely occurring with about 30% of children now being born to unmarried mothers, but such relationships outside of marriage are now seen as being much less stable, less healthy, less wealthy, and produce too few children.

For more on Marxist / Feminist family ideology
http://www.zetetics.com/mac/sexcor/marr.html
http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/13114/

There have been predictions that more countries will become Muslim within future years, (including countries such as France interestingly), as Muslims within those countries are having more children. It appears that feminism will die out within a number of countries, (due ultimately to a lack of children being born), quite possibly being replaced by Islam.

http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/ez/fmn/How%20Feminism%20killed%20fml.html

I am reading through your web-site

Reproduction of inter-genrational change?

The "disturbances" effecting household families and the breakdown of capacity to deal with this kind of disturbance, at community level, is the most degenerate varence depraving humanity with regards to the future, today.

As world demographic change occurs, there is a resemblance to the idealogical conflicts in the past, where the systems of cultural belief and gender influence the mainstream values of a particular society, as it is inter-grafted with the economic transformation of understanding need, in the way it engages the acceptance of others.

I believe, we must work to emancipate our knowledge, and that the key to understanding equity, is through the oath given to families.

That it is the economic model now that displaces the nature of the T-intersection and how this pans out to motive people, in their capacity to live a meaningful life, will depict the wellbeing of Australian society, in comming decades.

Miacat,
Your previous post reminds me of questions relating to mental illness and reproduction.

Individually, if someone were mentally ill, there would be less likelihood that they would have children. So nationally, if a country has a low birth rate, would that be indicative of wide scale mental illness in that country, or more indicative of the fact that the general environment of that country is not conducive to having children.

I think both, but more than likely in a ratio of about 70:30.

In the case of many countries, the country may have a low birth-rate nationally, but there are often pockets within that country that have high rates of birth. In many countries with Muslim populations, Muslim families will usually have more children than other families, and I have heard that this is the case in Australia, but I haven’t seen the actual figures.

In the case of the US, “the conservative, deeply religious state of Utah has a much higher birth rate (2.76 per woman in 2000) than the ultra-liberal state of Vermont (1.57 per woman). In other words, women in Utah produce 73% more children per woman than Vermont. Similar trends can be observed in studies comparing birth rates amongst Orthodox Jews versus secular Jews.”

The reversal of this trend will be difficult. Financial incentives alone have proven, in Europe, to not be effective in encouraging parents to have children.”
http://mac.abc.se/home/onesr/ez/fmn/How%20Feminism%20killed%20fml.html

So overall, I would think that low birth rates within many countries, would be indicative of wide scale mental neuroses within that country. There would be other symptoms (or secondary symptoms) of this general mental illness also, such as high rates of divorce, high rates of Single Person Households, high rates of childless couples etc

However populations cannot expand indefinitely either, but I think that the shrinking populations of many countries, would be indicative of widespread mental illness in those countries.

The Emotional Life of Nations, by Lloyd deMause, and his analysis which claims ""It is no exaggeration to state that human progress is a function of the evolving space between mother and infant. . . . It is the baby who is the wild card in human evolution, the flexible template through which culture has the opportunity to slowly improve itself generation by generation." from a book review by Godwin on http://www.primal-page.com/godwin2.htm otherwise see Google, where you find Lloyds book "Emotional Life of Nations" and other material from him.

I was struck by this material as it was what i was thinking - see www.miacat.com my journal page on http://www.miacat.com/SantasLetter/CommunityDevelopment/ShireBuilding/Altmann_Resume/MTKA_Resume.asp and; where I write my poem on "No War is the Loss of One" and the journey down from "Time - Scape - Time". It was the first thing I wrote where I was trying to find out "what I was thinking" for post-war generations" and expressed it as it is on the page.

Given that I have found Lloyd DeMause, I will eventually attempt to write a book or some papers addressing some of these themes. I think the thing I am struct with is how to understand culture through "The Historical Reproduction of Human Conflict" and I ask if there is ever to be a place for "Empathy"?

I find there is so much we fail to see, and I know there is so much I don't understand, but "reproduction" patterns in humanity be it through past or present, has given me a better grip of the NOW, even without all the background.

I was looking at it in a similar way to deMause. I feel the perspective can help widen discussion because it takes a macro and micro view on cultural exchanges and conflict. This for me is the way I intend to advocate notions of "conflict resolution" and promote acceptance through sustainable development.

That listening and understanding all sides of the human experience, must be a way forward. I am always wondering ... can we ever do it?

Tanveer Ahmed is quite correct in many of his assertions, but does not come to grips with real issues such as lack of acute beds for admission of acute patients, reduced and cutting of services for the out of hours crisis care. Satisfactory care of those with a mental illness needs to be over a 24 hour period, whether they are in or out of the system, not 9-5 as politicians and bureauracats prefer for their own healthy economies.
Mental Health has been ignored over many years by politicians who are solely responsible for the care of those with a mental illness. The Richmond report was a blatant cost cutting exercise.
The Report promised community care as a replacement for instituitional care. A total failure for the care of the mentally ill, who are just as worthy and human as any one of us, led to their placement in "for profit" hostels and boarding houses, prisons and detention centres where they receive inadequate care. There are exceptions, but these are outweighed by the fact that many of these unfortunate people are living on the streets.
Drugs and alcohol are abused by the mainstream population, in many cases attempting to avoid every day stresses of life. This is also true for many suffering a mental illness, many would have us believe that this is some new phenomonin, and confusing the issue with diagnosis of an illness. It is true that there are drug induced psychotic episodes occuring in people who are not suffering from a mental illness.
The fact is that there is a lack of services and care for drug related issues, which urgently needs addressing by the politicians. If a person is in a prison, a mental health facility, or any other instituition, they are entitled to be treated for their drug problem. I have heard the notion that psychiatric nurses are not qualified to treat those with a drug problem. This is a furphy, as qualified drug workers, should be part of the team in any psychiatric facility.
Tanveer Ahmed, there is a crisis in mental health.