The Lucky Country or a Depressed Nation?

Earlier this year I was astonished to learn that one in seven Australians take anti-depressant medication.

The 'Lucky Country' seems to have been replaced by the depressed nation.

Uncannily, that percentage similarly reflects the number of public servants comprising the Australian workforce.

Actually, the percentage of total workers engaged in the public service is even worse.

When you include full and part time workers, the public payroll accounts for slightly less than one in six workers (5.98).

However, when you consider the number of full time employees in the country (9,899,900), then around a quarter of them are ensconced in service to the public!

Little wonder so many people are depressed...and we're going broke!

Having less than 40 percent of the populace in full time work and having 25 percent of those on the public purse is a recipe for disaster.

But so are anti-depressants.

I have now heard countless stories of people who's lives have been damaged by these drugs. Despite the evidence of this damage, the rate of prescription continues to rise.

Unsurprisingly, the Pharma companies rake in billions every year while the patients seem to be on a merry-go-round of prescription and dosage tinkering.

I had my own experience with a doctor pushing this poison several decades ago.

When I presented with a long-standing cough, dramatic weight loss and some visible blood in my spittle, the doctor tried to suggest anti-depressants were the answer.

This was pre-internet but I didn't need Dr Google to know that was a ridiculous health assessment.

I politely declined, sought another opinion and then spent the best part of the next year in hospital or isolation with severe tuberculosis.

However I have met lots of people who have been put on these pills and rued the day.

They became zombified husks of themselves or hyper-active caricatures. Many suffered weight gain and a loss of libido. All found it difficult to chart a medical path off these pills.

That's not to say there may not be a place for them but the obvious treatment of first-line treatment of sadness or anxiety seems to be a big problem.

Ultimately it's damaging lives and, as messed up as i think this country is, the notion that three or four million of us need these things is absurd.

I also know there will be readers who have experienced positive results from this medication - either directly or indirectly. That's great but it doesn't answer the substantive issues of what is driving an epidemic of mental illness?

Some may argue it is misdiagnosis through financial incentives. Other's may suggest it's the 'catastrophe end-is-nigh' reporting pervasive in our media and school system.

Personally, I think it's that and more.

The prevalence of p*rn in young people's lives, the sense of worthlessness and hopelessness in many, coupled with the direct attack on childhood innocence by certain social justice warrior groups, all play a part.

It leads me to conclude that not only are we destroying our nation through poor economic and immigration policies, but we are doing untold damage to our citizens with a culture of masking the true malaise.

“Mental health is the final frontier of medicine that we need to crack. So many people struggle on feeling lonely, isolated, unsupported, lost and unable to cope. This must change.”
Dr Christian Jessen