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[DragoonKain]

I can't tell you how many people I know and see talk about depressed they are and how crippling it can be to their lives on many levels. I've been depressed, but I'm grateful I've never suffered from chronic debilitating depression. Do you think this is something that has always existed in people and they've just been afraid to talk about it or didn't understand what it was? Or have people changed and depression is becoming more common? Whether it be from our brains being chemically altered by modern medicine or addiction to technology.. or even something we haven't accounted for yet that has altered people's brain chemistry?

I often wonder what people were like in say the 14th century. Did this kind of stuff exist back then at the rate it does now? Hell, go back as far as you want.

I do feel terrible so many people struggle with this, and I wonder if this is natural in mankind or if this has been influenced by modern societal norms and changes.

 

[Tranquil]

Just a theory of mine, but the more a society is going through hard times (War, Famine, ETC) the less depression there is, everyone is focused on making sure their needs are met.

When society is flourishing you see more depression, the focus has shifted and is no longer centered on needs.

 

[PSYGN]

I feel they were too busy back then to dwell on our feelings for too long and the social aspect was higher and people felt they had a role in society.

 

[Jill Valentine]

More common and more recognised. Some people are more susceptible to it.

The divergence from the way we used to live our lives is too much at odds for some people. The motions we find ourselves caught up in are less likely to naturally lead us to circumstances that would fulfill our needs. The food we eat is no longer natural, just the extra processing alone increases the sugars (carbs) and fucks our minds up. In the older days we still accidentally found ourselves in communities through our workplaces, communities who also lived in the same area, and with distractions completely localised outside of books. Families were bigger and stayed in closer proximity so you had a much wider ranger of people to learn from. If you parents sucked, your aunts and uncles could fill the gap, or even your cousins. You didn't run off into your own little world. There was still tragedy stricken folk of course, but less.

There's a lot of little strings being pushed or pulled in certain directions, but in the end humans are animals. The brain doesn't remove the immeasurable primitiveness.

 

[triplestation]

Richer Countries Have Higher Depression Rates

At 19.2%, the U.S. had the second highest lifetime rate of depression. Only France, at 21%, had a greater frequency of the disease. Among the high-income countries, Japan, Germany, Italy, and Israel reported the smallest percentages, ranging from under 7% to 10%.

Low to middle income countries, by contrast, reported much lower rates overall. China (6.5%) and Mexico (8%) had the smallest percentage of lifetime incidence of depression. Only Brazil, at 18.4%, approached the level of depression in the U.S.

Understanding the Basics of Depression

WebMD's guide to the types and prevalence of depression.

www.webmd.com

 

[Vicetrailia]

Everyone is depressed and everyone has anxiety apparently.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I feel like the way we eat has a bigger effect on this than most people realize

 

[synchronicity]

I remember my previous life as a caveman, and I remember I didn't feel depression, I just felt hungry and tired.

I think depression is actually more of an issue in the modern world with all its conveniences. Too much time to reflect and drift without any purpose oftentimes.

I'm not suggesting that depression didn't exist in the past, but I do think that it's probably far more wide-spread in a world where the mind is free to contemplate. Many people are not good at dealing with a free mind. It has to be trained, just like the body. And in a world with so much distraction for the mind to chew on, very few actually take any effort to tame their mind.

Edit:

I feel like the way we eat has a bigger effect on this than most people realize

And this is certainly a contributor. We live in a world where most of us don't actually eat food. We eat food products. And our bodies struggle to recognize the composition, and we suffer - physically and mentally.

 

[triplestation]

I feel like the way we eat has a bigger effect on this than most people realize

i agree

And this is certainly a contributor. We live in a world where most of us don't actually eat food. We eat food products. And our bodies struggle to recognize the composition, and we suffer - physically and mentally.

for sure, i saw a documentary of this dude who only eats mac and cheese, everything else makes him gag

i've seen several people who gag at stuff that isn't junk food it's bizarre but that shit is real lol

 

[neobiz]

I feel like the way we eat has a bigger effect on this than most people realize

I agree

We also take in a buttload of chemicals daily, from personal care products to household cleaners

 

[triplestation]

 

[mcz117chief]

I feel like the way we eat has a bigger effect on this than most people realize

100%. I have seen vibrant young people turn into grey zombies the moment they stopped eating with other people and switched to eating from plastic bins in their cubicles.

 

[synchronicity]

i agree


for sure, i saw a documentary of this dude who only eats mac and cheese, everything else makes him gag

i've seen several people who gag at stuff that isn't junk food it's bizarre but that shit is real lol

Well I can tell you what happened to me that highlighted this effect.

I started having massive digestive problems. Without going into too much nasty detail, my body could simply not absorb/process traditional "foods". And it was agony. I felt like I was (literally) dying for a long while, and I'm sure I was pretty close. Doctors were no help either, and I was left to search for my own solutions.

I shifted my diet entirely to single ingredient foods. (all natural real foods) I combined them however I wished, but I basically only ate from the produce section. I did eat meat/fish in moderation as well, but mostly very healthy foods like sardines and grass-fed beef. I included healthy fats like coconut and avocado, and I supplemented with L-glutamine and collagen. Long story short, my digestion gradually improved and I started feeling better, and today my digestion is better than it has ever been in my entire life. (I'm 50 years old)

My body is probably more sensitive than that of most people, but whenever I hear doctors minimize the effect of diet or have no strong opinion on how people eat as an absolutely critical element of health, I just shake my head.

 

[Herr Edgy]

Interesting question.

Personally I believe that there is always some kind of balancing going on in the universe.
In that sense, there is this 'grass is always greener on the other side' thing going on when it comes to happiness. Some base wealth is required to survive, to cure sickness etc., but the modern lifestyle that aims at making things more and more convenient feels like it's taking away from what makes life worth living. The more we advance the further we regress in some ways and I think social media, advertisement that tells you how to live your life constantly etc. just worsens different aspects of life. I'm not religious by any measure, but I think some of the Christian values for example did serve to make society better.

Relationships between people is one such thing, common advice now is to cut any toxic people out of your life immediately, and while the idea makes sense, I'm sure that this advice fails its purpose way more than it succeeds. Toxic people often do not understand that it's them being toxic, and develop a victim complex where it's always all the others being evil/toxic. While those scenarios certainly exist, I doubt it's for the majority of them. With this advice, it becomes easy not to look at yourself and just blame the other person. In the days of swiping, the process of ditching your old partner and meeting a new one has become very easy, and it removes the need to confront yourself with others and yourself.

So yes I'd argue that depression is more common today and is a direct consequence of the modern lifestyle.

 

[highrider]

More common because more people live deeply unfulfilling lives. Office jobs are also really bad in terms of the health effects it has on people. Sedentary life makes you really prone to it. We are physical beings first, always.

 

[Coolwhhip]

Current lifestyle is depressing.

 

[DragoonKain]

Everyone is depressed and everyone has anxiety apparently.

 

[jdforge]

Modern life is rubbish.

 

[It's Jeff]

I've had a theory that increased depression has a lot to do with constant exposure to the internet - but it depends on what's being looked at.

Psychologists have been talking about how more choices causes things like anxiety and disappointment. You can get a quick abstract about that with this article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/stretching-theory/201810/too-much-choice. Thirty years ago, your daily choices were within your neighborhood and city. You didn't think about the state that much. You thought about the country and world for thirty minutes on the evening news. After that, you went back to focusing on the area in your control.

The internet is ALL global choice, ALL the time. And it's easy to get dialed in on things that make the world seem like a worse place than it is. I've seen a forum that solely focuses on negativity - all they search for is information that everyone is a secret nazi, homophobe, transphobe, racist, bad cop. I'm sure those people exist. If I look out my front window, they're not around. That abundance of choice gives people the option to choose whatever reality they want instead of going outside and accepting reality on reality's terms.

I have diagnosed depression. I take two medications for it. Part of the problem is biological, but the other part is what I choose to focus on. Is the five feet around me awesome? No? Then I'll fix that. Then ten feet, and so on. When you go the other route, you're looking at people feeling good and normal and telling them they shouldn't feel good because systemic racism exists. Forget that. Just make sure you're not racist and take it from there. Take care of your own five feet instead of worrying about what everyone else is doing.

 

[Dee Dah Dave]

Probably both. I think there's more depression these days because we live indoors in the concrete jungle. Humans aren't doing enough of what humans are supposed to be doing, like exercise and fresh air.

 

[crowbrow]

When people don't need to deal with material problems to subsist, like getting food to the table and a roof over their heads, existential dread is more probable to set in cause you have more time to think and ponder on the meaningless of existence.

 

[OuterOtter]

When people don't need to deal with material problems to subsist, like getting food to the table and a roof over their heads, existential dread is more probable to set in cause you have more time to think and ponder on the meaningless of existence.

I'm poor, in constant material problem and putting food on a table.

Still have much time to think about meaningless of existence.


People just dont eat well, dont sleep well and are isolated (not talking about the virus)

 

[crowbrow]

I'm poor, in constant material problem and putting food on a table.

Still have much time to think about meaningless of existence.

Of course there are cases of cases but I'm saying in proportion it increases the cases of depression to be able to have more free time to ponder and think. Also people with more education, poor or not, have more mental resources to think or question the absurdity of the world they live in and become depressed easily.

 

[Lrnex]

Modern life in general seems to have so much working against us when it comes to mental health. Most everybody living in the West has their basic needs taken care of but we live isolated lives.
It used to be that you'd be born into a community and would remain a part of that. But now there are no jobs worth a damn in a lot of those places so people are forced far away from their families and lifelong friends into a nearby urban hub surrounded by other lost strangers.

Also the isolation plus the lack of fulfilling work means lots of time to contemplate the emptiness of your daily routine. COVID is exasperating all of this of course but for me it's always been there. I don't like my office job, but it pays so much better (as in I can afford to live comfortably on my own, nothing crazy) than anything physical that I would actually enjoy doing and would make me feel more alive.

Also social media /news media helps keeps a whole lot of people perpetually miserable.

 

[Chairman Tickles]

It's more to do with any sort of temporary hardship or hiccup being diagnosed as a mental illness these days to extract those yummy dollars in return for prescription medications. Kids are ideal targets, parents won't hesitate to spend as much as they have to to ensure little jimmy stops having depressive episodes brought on by the mere act of growing up and going through puberty. Bonus: little jimmy will be hooked on those drugs for life.

IN short, people aren't hardening the fuck up.

 

[diffusionx]

More, modern society drives us nuts. Social media makes people depressed.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

It's more to do with any sort of temporary hardship or hiccup being diagnosed as a mental illness these days to extract those yummy dollars in return for prescription medications. Kids are ideal targets, parents won't hesitate to spend as much as they have to to ensure little jimmy stops having depressive episodes brought on by the mere act of growing up and going through puberty. Bonus: little jimmy will be hooked on those drugs for life.

IN short, people aren't hardening the fuck up.

I can't argue that people, children especially, aren't over-medicated. That's definitely a huge problem.

I don't believe it's always as simple as hardening the fuck up though. Mental health can be pretty complex

 

[Chairman Tickles]

I can't argue that people, children especially, aren't over-medicated. That's definitely a huge problem.

I don't believe it's always as simple as hardening the fuck up though. Mental health can be pretty complex

There's nothing better for profiteering quacks than a complex issue with no consistent or clear indicators. 'I will tailor this cocktail of drugs specifically for the whims and ebbs of your unpredictable mind'.

There need to be systems in place that preclude the casual dishing out of experimental psycho-stimulants and depressants on the basis of nothing more than hearsay from the patient themselves.

'This brain scan indicates everything is normal, your brain is just sad, here have a cookie'. <--- ideal

 

[Gargus]

I have no doubt the majority of people who are depressed aren't clinically depressed.

A lot of people today are attention whores. People love to get online and broadcast their problems and a lot of people line to send good vibes, tell them they understand, wish them well, and she'd crocodile tears for them which only furthers their desire to talk more about their issues and seek even more attention.

Having a "disease" of some sort is also a modern thing. It's a crutch, a reason for special attention and special exceptions. It allows people an excuse to be lazy or avoid real life as well.

The internet is riddled with bad information and too many people read something and think they have it also. Or depression medication commercials with descriptions like "do you not want to work? Do you get sleepy at night? Do you not constantly every waking second of your life feel completely happy? You're depressed. Take this pill". Psychosomatic plays a big part as well. TV and movies also romanticize the idea of depression.

Depression much like words like addiction, allergic, and ocd are ones most people have no real idea what they truly are. They dont understand a real depressive someone who has their life ruined by the problem.

People also think their depressed because all they do is focus on negativity. A lot of people only pay attention to negative stuff. They aren't depressed they are just very negative people. They could be happier they make a choice not to be.

I'd wager 75% of people who say they are depressed aren't at all. People who are actually depressed have a very hard and difficult life. But most people are just pussies that live in a society that's too soft and too comfortable and coddles them.

 

[Scotty W]

There is no way of knowing, so I take whatever fits my narrative best and go with that.

 

[The Pleasure]

Depression topic? Is it crippling?

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

Ive suffered fr.depression ever since 2014 and it cost me alot of hours wasted on trying to survive day to day life and going through the motions.

Ironically, the COVID situation made me more grateful of what I have and to.look forward to something each day whether it's completing that game or follow.up on a life goal that I abandoned.long ago.

Depression is very real and I'm living proof of it.

Humor.is one of the secret antidotes that I personally use

 

[V4skunk]

It's definitely getting worse.
People are much unhealthier these days and are all too willing to happily take some pills from the doctors.

 

[lock2k]

I can't tell you how many people I know and see talk about depressed they are and how crippling it can be to their lives on many levels. I've been depressed, but I'm grateful I've never suffered from chronic debilitating depression. Do you think this is something that has always existed in people and they've just been afraid to talk about it or didn't understand what it was? Or have people changed and depression is becoming more common? Whether it be from our brains being chemically altered by modern medicine or addiction to technology.. or even something we haven't accounted for yet that has altered people's brain chemistry?

I often wonder what people were like in say the 14th century. Did this kind of stuff exist back then at the rate it does now? Hell, go back as far as you want.

I do feel terrible so many people struggle with this, and I wonder if this is natural in mankind or if this has been influenced by modern societal norms and changes.

I'd bet on both.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

It's definitely getting worse.
People are much unhealthier these days and are all too willing to happily take some pills from the doctors.

World Development Indicators - Google Public Data Explorer

We live longer today though! :cough:

 

[Mistake]

I'm grateful to have moved on from chronic depression to nihilism. It really turned my life around. A real step up lol

To answer your question, I blame pill pushing doctors and the pharmaceutical industry, something I know first hand getting prozac at 6. The amount of fuckery that has been created along with the stigma against mental health, is what made things the way they are today. Combine this with everyone eating like shit and not exercising, it's no wonder things are this way.

This is not to discredit anyone with chronic depression. I just strongly recommend positive lifestyle changes before resorting to medication, especially if you're under 24.

 

[Herr Edgy]

This is not to discredit anyone with chronic depression. I just strongly recommend positive lifestyle changes before resorting to medication, especially if you're under 24.

Out of curiosity, why specifically 24? I agree though, medication for the mind is something that should be treated with utmost care.

I once had a doctor diagnose my thyroid gland as sick when I was a kid and wanted me to take pills for the rest of my life, because I would be able to develop 100-200 other illnesses because of it.
Different doctor diagnosed everything as the opposite (but still bad) as the first doctor.

My mother made the choice to not give me those pills and a couple years after everything turned out to be fine. Apparently the values that were measured against were of adults, not kids. According to those doctors I would have severely influenced my hormonal balance while my body was developing, Keep in mind that this is Germany, where, to my knowledge, doctors don't just prescribe drugs for mental illness as easily - but that could still have fucked things up for me.

 

[Rightisright]

Just a theory of mine, but the more a society is going through hard times (War, Famine, ETC) the less depression there is, everyone is focused on making sure their needs are met.

When society is flourishing you see more depression, the focus has shifted and is no longer centered on needs.

Pretty much spot on.
Anxiety is a natural survival instinct. OCD together with anxiety is what drives you, and every other animal to survive. We had to find fresh water, find food, evade animals that could eat you, other tribes that could kill you, shit, even a deep cut could kill you from the infection.
Nowadays we don't have those same things to deal with, but we have the genetic anxiety in us, so it manifests in other areas.
Depression is also a intelligent person's disease. A person who is a deep thinker, who questions everything.
The more we know, the less we cope.

 

[thenugget]

I feel like there is a minority out there that romanticize having depression and other mental disorders, so there may come self-assurance that one has depression when they don't. Many people cannot really distinguish between depression and a longer period of sadness followed by lack of motivation and all that. But generally it is more recognized, but wouldn't say it's more common - feels like people used to follow this "just suck it up" mentality and tuck this problem away, so.

I myself struggled with clinically diagnosed depression.

 

[-Troid-]

I feel a good amount of people just feel basic depression and can get over it, but say they have chronic depression and use it as a crutch to avpid being responsible. I'm sure to some people that may seem like an oversimplification but I've personally seen it time and time again.

 

[Rightisright]

I feel a good amount of people just feel basic depression and can get over it, but say they have chronic depression and use it as a crutch to avpid being responsible. I'm sure to some people that may seem like an oversimplification but I've personally seen it time and time again.

Most people have time periods of stress, anxiety and slight depression, and they get on with it.
I agree to some extent it's almost a badge of honour to think you are dealing with depression, when in reality you arnt.
If you read the comments in alot of song clips in YouTube that this or that song saved my life, when in reality a song isn't going to be deciding factor in your life.
But some people get that black dog depression and get it so bad they kill themselves. I, probably like most here, have had friends who have committed suicide because of depression. Not only killing themselves, but leaving a wife and two kids under 4 to fend for themselves. He loved his wife and kids, yet couldn't even live for them.
Fuck ever getting that deep into depression.

 

[VertigoOA]

It's gonna keep going up to sell us more sedatives.

pills for everyone


"he's the one they call dr. Pillgood!"

 

[anab0lic]

'Spectator depression' is definitely a thing - where instead of living your own life, you spend all or most of your time, watching other people live theirs.... whether it be vlogs, reality tv shows, twitch or whatever other form of media. I went through a period of this a while back and it was a truly miserable existence and also one that can be hard to escape when these addictive and low effort habbits are formed. This also over time, turns your brain to mush as it requires little to no critical thinking skills.

Personally I find (and i believe this to be true for most people) when I am being creative and contributing to society in a meaningful way I am at my happiest. This is where you will find purpose, meaning and self worth.... a life of consumerism on the other hand just leaves feeling like a worthless leech.

 

[Sub_Level]

People talk about over-medicating the population, and thats true to an extent, but I also think some people who are truly depressed don't give pills a fair shot.

Some pills take 4-6 weeks before you remotely feel any benefit. People who have been dealing with depression as a constant across multiple stages of their life need to recognize it as a health problem. In the same way you take medicine for a cold or for strep or for bronchitis, some people need to take it for major depressive disorder.

 

[anab0lic]

People talk about over-medicating the population, and thats true to an extent, but I also think some people who are truly depressed don't give pills a fair shot.

Some pills take 4-6 weeks before you remotely feel any benefit. People who have been dealing with depression as a constant across multiple stages of their life need to recognize it as a health problem. In the same way you take medicine for a cold or for strep or for bronchitis, some people need to take it for major depressive disorder.

I am big time anti pills as a solution to someone being unhappy or 'depressed' as it puts them in a state where they do not address the root cause of whats making them miserable.

 

[Stilton Disco]

A lot of people say they're depressed and are diagnosed with it when they're really just unhappy.

It's easier and safer to say you have depression, that it's a mental health problem beyond your control, than admit you're just living a life and making choices that are causing you to be sad.

 

[ROMhack]

More common because more people live deeply unfulfilling lives. Office jobs are also really bad in terms of the health effects it has on people. Sedentary life makes you really prone to it. We are physical beings first, always.

Agree with this. Despite people sometimes thinking otherwise, office jobs are fucking hard. I personally felt less depressed working in hospitality as I was so rushed off my feet every day, simply moving around gave me more of a 'rush' which likely released endorphins. Problem is that it's poorly paid so you can't do it forever. Thanks Obama!

I 'manage' my job by heading to the gym straight after and it helps massively. Man's gotta move.

Lockdown is an interesting time to reflect on this. My anxiety levels are through the roof because my coping mechanisms have been eroded. I remind myself to stay sane but it feels very unnatural. You can tell the body doesn't like being stuck indoors all day.

As for the main question - I would say higher diagnosis coupled with a lot more pressure via media (internet).

 

[PrellboGark]

I often wonder what people were like in say the 14th century. Did this kind of stuff exist back then at the rate it does now? Hell, go back as far as you want.

Humans only started defining mental illnesses as deviations from the norm relatively recently.
In societies prior to ours, the mentally ill lived as normal members of society and were often attributed with special wisdom instead of illness.
Like, there are many theories about how some of the people who were regarded as prophets, teachers or oracles were just mentally ill. (Oracles for sure. If you sit over a gas leak and people celebrate you for the brainfarts that come from that, that's kinda obvious)
Even in the very authoritarian dark ages the typical "court fool" was often the only instance allowed to criticize the kings and usually they were mentally ill.
Thing is if there is no real knowledge, its hard to recognize nonsense as well.

Only with the enlightenment, we defined this mentally normal/healthy state and started to point out deviations and started to lock them up and later treat them.


Regarding depression, I think that's complicated. In literature, there are a lot of references to people growing tired of life and of their daily struggles. Life was much harder than it is now, so those might have been signs of relatively widespread depression hundreds of years ago, or simply signs of a life that generally sucked ass.
After all, suicide was considered a sin and always discouraged, at least in judeo-christian regions.
In more honor-based societies(and social cycles) suicide was sometimes considered an honorable way of admitting to failure.

But without anything to base it on, I do think that depression is more widespread today than it ever was.
All our essential needs are generally met and our progress and development are confined to a very restrictive economic system that constantly feeds us concepts of the good life and happiness in order to make us consume more.

If you work your whole life to have a car, a family, a house only to then find out that you still aren't happy, it kinda reveals how the things driving you your whole life were just derived from images you saw in clips designed to sell you yogurt and cereals.
I'd be depressed as well.

 

[ROMhack]

'Spectator depression' is definitely a thing - where instead of living your own life, you spend all or most of your time, watching other people live theirs.... whether it be vlogs, reality tv shows, twitch or whatever other form of media. I went through a period of this a while back and it was a truly miserable existence and also one that can be hard to escape when these addictive and low effort habbits are formed. This also over time, turns your brain to mush as it requires little to no critical thinking skills.

Personally I find (and i believe this to be true for most people) when I am being creative and contributing to society in a meaningful way I am at my happiest. This is where you will find purpose, meaning and self worth.... a life of consumerism on the other hand just leaves feeling like a worthless leech.

There's lot of truth in this. It really hit me on the head a few years ago that anxiety, and probably depression too, is formed by being too passive (or at least feeling like it). Now when I feel anxious, I make a conscious effort to do the thing I'm fearing. It might not always lead to the best outcome but it sure feels a lot better to have done something. To have made a decision.

Problem is, a lot of the world doesn't feel this way. You'll likely have a terrible time at work if you act on issues all the time.

Humans only started defining mental illnesses as deviations from the norm relatively recently.
In societies prior to ours, the mentally ill lived as normal members of society and were often attributed with special wisdom instead of illness.
Like, there are many theories about how some of the people who were regarded as prophets, teachers or oracles were just mentally ill. (Oracles for sure. If you sit over a gas leak and people celebrate you for the brainfarts that come from that, that's kinda obvious)
Even in the very authoritarian dark ages the typical "court fool" was often the only instance allowed to criticize the kings and usually they were mentally ill.
Thing is if there is no real knowledge, its hard to recognize nonsense as well.

Only with the enlightenment, we defined this mentally normal/healthy state and started to point out deviations and started to lock them up and later treat them.


Regarding depression, I think that's complicated. In literature, there are a lot of references to people growing tired of life and of their daily struggles. Life was much harder than it is now, so those might have been signs of relatively widespread depression hundreds of years ago, or simply signs of a life that generally sucked ass.
After all, suicide was considered a sin and always discouraged, at least in judeo-christian regions.
In more honor-based societies(and social cycles) suicide was sometimes considered an honorable way of admitting to failure.

But without anything to base it on, I do think that depression is more widespread today than it ever was.
All our essential needs are generally met and our progress and development are confined to a very restrictive economic system that constantly feeds us concepts of the good life and happiness in order to make us consume more.

If you work your whole life to have a car, a family, a house only to then find out that you still aren't happy, it kinda reveals how the things driving you your whole life were just derived from images you saw in clips designed to sell you yogurt and cereals.
I'd be depressed as well.

Good post. Your last paragraph reminds me of that Talking Heads song:

 

[JoduanER2]

Just a theory of mine, but the more a society is going through hard times (War, Famine, ETC) the less depression there is, everyone is focused on making sure their needs are met.

When society is flourishing you see more depression, the focus has shifted and is no longer centered on needs.

I would say this is true.