http://www.thelocal.ch/20130617/repo...ess-depression
Almost one in six Swiss residents suffers from symptoms of depression, an illness that costs Switzerland's economy an estimated 11 billion francs a year, a report released on Monday says.
why?
Is it true that depression and stress rate is high in Switzerland?
oh why?
Because Switzerland is
- narrow
- overpopulated
- and, in the cities and towny, hectic
--
add to this that many people in Switzerland regard the glass as half empty instead of half full
Also, Switzerland has a strong work ethic, and stress is a factor in depression. Winter is long and cold. And people read the local.
Surreal. An early morning post from Iran asking if the Swiss are really that depressed.
Of course not, but our nuclear energy program is working well thank you.
9 posts since 2009...been waiting quite some time to unleash this great post, haven't you?
One of the failures here is that people are always worried about "what the neighbours will say".
I read recently that the best defence against depression is not to worry too much: try and be seriously "happy go lucky" in life.
And in Zurich we work up to a full day per week more than some neighbouring countries and have less vacations
Ie France 35 hrs/week vs Zurich 43 hrs/week
that is enough to depress me
K
The thing with the Swiss and depression is this: They wallow in it. Somehow, there seems to be this underlying current of mistrust and misery that seems to be quintessential to the life of a Swiss person.
You must be miserable, you must complain. You must work more. You must be considerate of everybody around you.
Also, the Swiss have no concept of sarcasm and irony, because they're so used to complaints about all the things (Train five minutes late? "An outrage!" Neighbour's teenager cranks up new stereo too loud for a minute? "Scandal!") that they've lost all concept of humour in their misery. Don't believe me. Try this: Next time you're at work and something minor happens. Like there being no more sugar for the coffee or Outlook not working right. Just try to say "This is an outrage! I demand this to be fixed immediately!" in an as serious as possible voice. See what happens.
But that's not to say that the Swiss are generally unhappy. They're happy people, they're just more miserable while being happy. Swiss people need something to complain about. You know that cranky old neighbour who once told you that it's absolutely impossible and completely unacceptable for you to take a shower after 10pm? And the susequent five-hour discussion where you tried to tell him that you work until 9pm and that you can't make it home earlier and because you're a factory-worker, you need your shower and he wouldn't listen and you promised that you'd find a way which then turned out to be taking "quiet showers" while feeling guilty? Imagine if you'd have stopped with the showering. Old Cranky Swiss Dude (OCSD) would just have found something new to complain about. Maybe that other neighbour - oh, she is a clever one - waters her plants way too much. And something about her kids, he's always known. Something's just not right with those kids.
And occasionally, OCSD gets so into the whole ordeal that he'll go pester everyone about his issues with you. And then there's this shared misery. And that makes them happy.
It's really weird, but there's actual basis for it. I once learned that for someone to be happy at a workplace, they need both things to make them happy - like free chocolates - and things to make them complain - like bad coffee (Yes, the horrible coffee at your office just might be there by design as it creates shared misery).
And of course, there's the genuinely depressed. But those are just as depressed as everywhere else. To newcomers, this Swiss "culture of depression" might seem strange. But spend a couple of years here and you'll get used to it. And after these couple of years, you'll find yourself looking at an empty sugar bowl and thinking "Oh for God's sake. This is scandalous! Who does that!? It must have been Thomas. I've always known something is wrong about that guy!"
I'd be depressed if foreigners constantly referred to my country as "Swiss".
If you're writing in English, the country is Switzerland. There are variants such as Schweiz, Svizzera, Suisse and Svizra depending upon the national language. You could also use Confoederatio Helvetica although that would be somewhat obscure.
But Swiss is not a country, it's a nationality.
Could it just be that instances of depression are just picked up more here? People tend to go to the doctor more readily, you can easily get an appointment, etc.
Maybe in other places the infrastructure isn't good enough to support all the cases of mental illness and/or people just don't follow it up.
I was depressed before I moved here, now I'm not. Switzerland cured me of depression.....
Or it might have nothing to do with the country but more about the stress I was under in my personal life.
Very good help here for depression, and the stigma is lower, so maybe it's not just better diagnosed, but more talked about, which leads people to realise they are depressed easier etc etc etc.
I would like to counter,
i lived in a village type setting (mainly farm land), other than the common hi and bye, and good lunch greetings, all was well.
I wouldnt classify the village folks (or those who are far away from a major city) in the same boat.
Also we tend to gravitate towards finding fault and negative things, in Switzerland, if your ever sad, just look up at the beautiful landscape.
Sad ≠ depressed.
You're joking, right.
How do people deal with depression in Iran?
But shorter and warmer than I'm used to.
Tom
I think they are so busy to survive that they don't have much time to think about it.
How does Zurich differ from the rest of Switzerland? People do actually work outside of Zurich
My thoughts exactly. "Hectic city" in Switzerland? Where? I would like to visit...