text: Often wondered why it seems that mental illness has become more frequent.  Suicide rates since the 1960's have for the most part stayed the same.  But, reported mental illness and use of prescription drugs has skyrocketed.  Seems like things are getting worse and not better:
  
  
  "...Whitaker: The rise in the disability rate due to mental illness is simply the starting point for the book. The disability numbers don’t prove anything, but, given that this astonishing increase has occurred in lockstep with our society’s increased use of psychiatric medications, the numbers do raise an obvious question. Could our drug-based paradigm of care, for some unforeseen reason, be fueling the increase in disability rates? ..."
  
  
  
  
  https://www.counterpunch.org/2010/04/28/the-astonishing-rise-of-mental-illness-in-america/
  
  In that story, the author says the common theme in scientific literature is that psychiatric drugs are short-term treatment but create chronically ill patients.