We need a more robust conversation about modern health disorders

Many of the disorders we have become familiar with in recent years have arguably always been there, a little like The Americas was always there before Columbus ‘discovered it.’ People have always suffered from stress, anxiety and depression among many other conditions and disorders, but certain behaviours and or ways of thinking has up until recently had no diagnosis but only through research, study, observation and experiment enabled us to achieve a much greater understanding of various disorders that now exist

We have witnessed in recent times an ‘explosion’ of sorts in certain conditions and disorders that up until fairly recently were maybe only attributable to certain groups, e.g., those affected by conflict, or perhaps the elderly, or maybe even psychiatric patients.

I’m conscious as I write this that of course I’m no doctor by any stretch of the imagination, and far from qualified to offer any real meaningful ‘prognosis’ or notable contribution on the state of modern health.

However, as a youth worker (with over 30 years experience), and a father of three (‘big lumps’) and a grandfather of one, I have noticed changes, some subtle, some not so subtle, that correlate with, or at least echo findings from various studies/research, that give rise to the belief that there has been said ‘explosion.’

For example, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) hasn’t been around so long and was once primarily if not exclusively the domain of soldiers return from the battlefield yet is now used to diagnose a number illnesses that seem hard to imagine as being on a par with what a soldier might see or experience in conflict zones.

The number of those committing suicide, suffering depression, stress and anxiety has increased significantly. It’s estimated that the levels of stress exhibited by young adolescents in the US is greater than those of 1950s psychiatric patients.

Many of the modern health disorders are anti-social in nature: ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), PDD (Personal Development Disorder); obesity has almost doubled in the period between 1980 and 2014, loneliness is now acknowledged as a killer, links between the lack of sleep and obesity has been established, and in some strange ironic twist it would seem, we’ve learned that Neanderthals never had cavities, which tells us something about our diet!

There are various theories to hypothesise the growth in these kinds of illnesses and disorders; and there is evidence to support those theories, at least tentatively. The lifestyles we now lead that have arguably run parallel with the birth and growth of these common disorders seem clear, be that consumer culture, our constantly switched-on 24/7 presence, sleep deprivation, fast food, excessive levels of sugar in our diets, and competition for social standing among our peers.

It of course makes sense that if you do not take care of your diet, you don’t sleep well, you live most of your life in the virtual world and parallel to that, exist in a perpetual state of competition with your neighbours (unable to enjoy what you do have), there is no doubting the impact that this will have on your health, not least of all, your mental health.

However, as we endeavour to understand better the sources and impact of modern health disorders, there exists questions that need further exploration, for example, there is widespread belief that mental disorders result from chemical imbalances in the brain, but how has such a conclusion been reached if evidence of this is apparently in short supply? Are conditions or addictions labelled as diseases so as to avoid people being blamed for their behaviour? By prescribing drugs for many disorders are we changing the neurochemistry of individuals and ultimately, the neurochemistry of future generations? Is the failure to eat fatty foods actually been instrumental in contributing to obesity? Do the answers to disorders actually lie tucked away in our immune system as opposed to ingestion? Are injection or ingestion of manufactured products all too easily prescribed by the medical profession?

Perhaps we need to have a more robust conversation about many of the modern health disorders that currently exist that result from the lifestyles we lead or our inability to respond to given situations.