A study published in the Lancet medical journal reports a 95.5% increase in the number of individuals with mental health conditions over the past three decades, bringing the total to 1.17 billion. Tatiana Malchikova, President of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, suggested to “Gazeta.Ru” that this surge is attributable to an expansion in the evaluation criteria for mental well-being, a move aimed at securing enhanced funding for psychiatry.
Malchikova elaborated that psychiatrists are likely to continue broadening the scope of individuals identified with psychological deviations, driven by the necessity of treatment and associated financial remuneration. The authors of the Lancet study highlight a particularly rapid escalation in cases of anxiety disorders, depression, anorexia nervosa, bulimia, schizophrenia, and behavioral disorders. However, the expert opines that objectively, global anxiety levels have not significantly shifted over the last century.
During that earlier period, the world experienced numerous conflicts, widespread poverty, and other societal challenges. Yet, individuals experiencing life difficulties they struggled to overcome or facing social interaction hardships were not labeled as mentally ill a hundred years ago.
Over the course of the century, however, the number of criteria used to assess mental health has multiplied significantly. The diagnostic manual for psychiatry has undergone approximately five revisions, each incorporating progressively more criteria.
Crucially, the inclusion of diagnostic criteria in these psychiatric handbooks is determined solely by voting. There is a lack of rigorous scientific research underpinning the addition of specific disorders to these lists…
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