Mental sickness is a kind of sickness that may not be immediately visible. People can be looking completely normal and yet they may be mentally sick. It is not something peculiar to a country. It happens in all countries. Countries who claim to be most spiritual like India and the countries such as the United States that claim to be the most materialistic all suffer from having a large population of mentally sick people. Though one can argue reasonably that societies which are more materialistic and individualistic have larger population of lonely and mentally ill people.
What are the causes of mental sickness. In my view it is the people who have lost their soul to hollow social pressures that are most prone to getting affected by mental sickness. For example, one can lose their soul by focusing too much on a single thing to the exclusion of everything else in their life. The classic one track mind. The 22 year old rich kid in Santa Barbara who became mentally ill, all because he could not find a girlfriend for himself is a case in point. He lived in a society where men measured their happiness by how much money and how many hot women they had. And he felt left out in a society where size matters more than soul.
Given the negative family and social pressures, one can become mentally sick in countries like India too. You may ask: even with so many gods ? Yes. Why do some people in such highly prestigious and sought after institutions such as Indian Institute of Technology end up committing suicides ? You could say ...well IITs are just a different manifestation of the spirit of America. A spirit which is highly competitive and Darwinistic. And in such environments losers are bound to feel terrible outcast and no wonder if they are driven to extreme measures such as mass killings or suicides.
A healthy individual needs to feel part of the family and society he or she lives in. Everybody has a need for love and affection. We are animals at a deep down level and we are very touch oriented species. We need to be hugged, caressed and loved. When someone lives too lonely, he or she ends up living in their own world. When the thoughts of an individual become too detached with reality, a chance of hell breaking loose occurs.
To what extent is this western world which gave us modern technology and comforts also responsible for this competitive, peer pressure, stress based life that we all live today. Are there mentally sick deranged mass shooters in tribal societies of Amazon and Africa ? I do not have enough data on this subject. It seems to me that the old adage that nothing comes free, is true. And may be the price we have to pay for living in a modern society with all the amenities is the danger of being shot by some strange deranged lonely individual.
What are the causes of mental sickness. In my view it is the people who have lost their soul to hollow social pressures that are most prone to getting affected by mental sickness. For example, one can lose their soul by focusing too much on a single thing to the exclusion of everything else in their life. The classic one track mind. The 22 year old rich kid in Santa Barbara who became mentally ill, all because he could not find a girlfriend for himself is a case in point. He lived in a society where men measured their happiness by how much money and how many hot women they had. And he felt left out in a society where size matters more than soul.
Given the negative family and social pressures, one can become mentally sick in countries like India too. You may ask: even with so many gods ? Yes. Why do some people in such highly prestigious and sought after institutions such as Indian Institute of Technology end up committing suicides ? You could say ...well IITs are just a different manifestation of the spirit of America. A spirit which is highly competitive and Darwinistic. And in such environments losers are bound to feel terrible outcast and no wonder if they are driven to extreme measures such as mass killings or suicides.
A healthy individual needs to feel part of the family and society he or she lives in. Everybody has a need for love and affection. We are animals at a deep down level and we are very touch oriented species. We need to be hugged, caressed and loved. When someone lives too lonely, he or she ends up living in their own world. When the thoughts of an individual become too detached with reality, a chance of hell breaking loose occurs.
To what extent is this western world which gave us modern technology and comforts also responsible for this competitive, peer pressure, stress based life that we all live today. Are there mentally sick deranged mass shooters in tribal societies of Amazon and Africa ? I do not have enough data on this subject. It seems to me that the old adage that nothing comes free, is true. And may be the price we have to pay for living in a modern society with all the amenities is the danger of being shot by some strange deranged lonely individual.
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