Lack of psychiatrists leaves Thailand grappling with rising suicides, depression

[jacko45k]

20 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

High cost of living

Boring

No culture

Full of bogans

The country is run by parasites

Really.... and yet the ones we see here seem to enjoy life and are up for a laugh...... 

[Bill Dauterive]

Just to be perfectly clear. It is not the lack of psychiatrists that leads to a rise in suicides......There are 1000 examples that do. This is not one of. m. 

[Walker88]

Mental illness is on the rise around the world. It was exacerbated by the Covid restrictions, but it has been rising since the adoption of mobile phones and social media. It gets even worse when economic times are tough, and then in some countries additionally bad when Autumn and Winter come and sunlight is limited.

 

In Thailand all the young people I know are obsessed with their various accounts on FB, TikTok, Insta, LINE, etc. Their posts are schizophrenic....one style trying to portray a hi-so life of constant partying with friends or shopping at fancy malls, eating at fine restaurants, etc., while the other kind of posts scream about how nobody understands them or why do they bother going on living, etc.

 

At first I thought I knew lots of outliers, but that most people were likely well-adjusted. Nope. It's ubiquitous among young people who only know a life with social media and smartphones. The smiles you see on all the faces walking through Siam Paragon or Emporium are fake; those same folks are posting desperate messages on LINE or elsewhere.

 

When I go back home and meet nieces and nephews, it's the same. Buried in the phone, living a Potemkin life on the one hand, then being full of angst on the other. Oddly, despite hearing or seeing the same angst in their friends, they all think they, alone, are the ones suffering. Perhaps this is a result of self-absorption: they cannot see what's right in front of them, because all they do is navel gaze.

 

We've all grown use to seeing groups of 'friends' sitting at a table together, each buried in his/her phone, oblivious to the friends they are with, posting on their own social media or looking at their 'friends' sm posts and comparing. When I'm on the BTS, it is not uncommon for me to be the sole person in the car not gazing at a phone. I do not think any good could come from this addiction.

 

I used to joke that folks older than Millennials and Gen Z never took 'selfies', because despite not having 6,752 FB 'friends' or 25,000 TikTok followers, we always had someone who could take a photo of us if needed.

 

Thailand might have it worse than many---despite data indicating it is mid-range---because of its social system: an incompetent junta combined with one of the world's worst qini coefficient, plus the filial piety demanded by many elders who, frankly, are undeserving of the 'respect' (read: money) they demand from their progeny.

 

Where does it all go? I suspect downhill for the foreseeable future, as economic times are unlikely to improve.

 

Maybe this partial solution is too simple, but I suspect if everyone tossed their smartphone and deleted 90% of their social media---and began talking face to face again---depression and mental illness rates would drop dramatically. Of course, that 'ain't gonna' happen, because the addiction is too strong.

 

So what's bad now is going to get worse.

 

Have a nice day.

[khunpeer]

most people see it as a weakness to seek help from a psychiatrist/psychologist.

it is not 'manly' to do so, many of their friends will shame them!

this is the main reason many Thais have mental problems and don't seek help...

cheap solution for locals to escape from their problems is yaba and booze.... that these problems are not solved the next morning does not keep them from doing so again and again...

[Sparktrader]

3 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Mental illness is on the rise around the world. It was exacerbated by the Covid restrictions, but it has been rising since the adoption of mobile phones and social media. It gets even worse when economic times are tough, and then in some countries additionally bad when Autumn and Winter come and sunlight is limited.

 

In Thailand all the young people I know are obsessed with their various accounts on FB, TikTok, Insta, LINE, etc. Their posts are schizophrenic....one style trying to portray a hi-so life of constant partying with friends or shopping at fancy malls, eating at fine restaurants, etc., while the other kind of posts scream about how nobody understands them or why do they bother going on living, etc.

 

At first I thought I knew lots of outliers, but that most people were likely well-adjusted. Nope. It's ubiquitous among young people who only know a life with social media and smartphones. The smiles you see on all the faces walking through Siam Paragon or Emporium are fake; those same folks are posting desperate messages on LINE or elsewhere.

 

When I go back home and meet nieces and nephews, it's the same. Buried in the phone, living a Potemkin life on the one hand, then being full of angst on the other. Oddly, despite hearing or seeing the same angst in their friends, they all think they, alone, are the ones suffering. Perhaps this is a result of self-absorption: they cannot see what's right in front of them, because all they do is navel gaze.

 

We've all grown use to seeing groups of 'friends' sitting at a table together, each buried in his/her phone, oblivious to the friends they are with, posting on their own social media or looking at their 'friends' sm posts and comparing. When I'm on the BTS, it is not uncommon for me to be the sole person in the car not gazing at a phone. I do not think any good could come from this addiction.

 

I used to joke that folks older than Millennials and Gen Z never took 'selfies', because despite not having 6,752 FB 'friends' or 25,000 TikTok followers, we always had someone who could take a photo of us if needed.

 

Thailand might have it worse than many---despite data indicating it is mid-range---because of its social system: an incompetent junta combined with one of the world's worst qini coefficient, plus the filial piety demanded by many elders who, frankly, are undeserving of the 'respect' (read: money) they demand from their progeny.

 

Where does it all go? I suspect downhill for the foreseeable future, as economic times are unlikely to improve.

 

Maybe this partial solution is too simple, but I suspect if everyone tossed their smartphone and deleted 90% of their social media---and began talking face to face again---depression and mental illness rates would drop dramatically. Of course, that 'ain't gonna' happen, because the addiction is too strong.

 

So what's bad now is going to get worse.

 

Have a nice day.

I agree however a phone is a computer. But you are right. The old share a computer was better. Internet cafes.

[Sparktrader]

4 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Really.... and yet the ones we see here seem to enjoy life and are up for a laugh...... 

Yes millions go overseas cause its better.

[scorecard]

11 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

Farangs allowed to do that work in Thailand? Alarm bells 2000 baht upfront plus farang.

 

He probably watched Oprah and Dr Phil for ideas.

Seems to me the 'psychiatrist' was a scam artist and not concerned at all with local laws.

[scorecard]

25 minutes ago, khunpeer said:

most people see it as a weakness to seek help from a psychiatrist/psychologist.

it is not 'manly' to do so, many of their friends will shame them!

this is the main reason many Thais have mental problems and don't seek help...

cheap solution for locals to escape from their problems is yaba and booze.... that these problems are not solved the next morning does not keep them from doing so again and again...

and some just don't know that help is available.

 

and some would have zero trust in folks who say they can help.