Mental health issues, mental illness, depression, OCD, PTSD, the list goes on, and we’ve all seen the signs, whether behind bus shelter windows, plastered across the dusty sides of buses, on depressing, two-tone billboards, or in our own relations; so the question is, are we all losing the plot, if I may veer slightly away from politically correct diction?

Or is there more at play here, underlying causal factors, sociological and socioeconomic conditions, dragging 1 in 5 Calgarians down to the point where they say, either to themselves or to a doctor usually to both—I am mentally unwell? But maybe it’s more simple than that, perhaps society is focusing its attention on an age-old aspect of the human condition, relabelled and redefined, repackaged by media outlets hungry for another sad story, and dressed up by advertising agencies representing corporations and governmental and non-governmental organizations and societies—perhaps not.

To elucidate this complex and stigmatized societal issue, I spoke with my stepfather, Dr. Ken Fryatt of the Alberta Worker’s Compensation Board. He stated that in his meeting with and diagnosing those who have been injured on the job, in his opinion, approximately 30 percent suffer from underlying psychological issues, which, he explained, are more often than not unrelated to the reported injury itself.

When asked the most common form of mental illness he sees in his patients, his answer was quick and to the point: without skipping a beat, he declared, “depression and anxiety.” I further pressed him for information regarding the underlying cause(s) of these illnesses; though not wishing to speculate, he stated that with the down-turned job market, there are fewer workers doing the task of what once were more, thus increasing workload, resulting in greater stress in the workplace.

He further expounded that substance abuse and addiction are, in his opinion, major issues within Calgary, Alberta, and the nation on a whole. He is also of the belief that mental illness rates have risen drastically in the preceding decade or two; however, a large portion of this increase is due to greater societal awareness and more effective diagnosing.

The author of this article, though never having dealt with a patient, mentally ill or otherwise, is of the opinion that addiction certainly plays a major role in the apparent increase in the number of mentally unsound Calgarians; though we must be cautious when defining this word: addiction.

And we must ask if it is possible, that in this digital age, an overload of information could be placing greater stress on each individual mind? I certainly don’t want to downgrade the significance of substance abuse in Calgary, it is as obvious as the innumerable homeless men and women mournfully scattered across the proud face of our city centre, residing in the unseen yet nearby shadow of our highest urban peak, the windswept Nose Hill.

But in my jogging beneath the shadows of our downtown core’s tall-standing structures this warm, sunny afternoon, one societal phenomenon stood prominently above all others, a phenomenon that is new and untried in a historical sense; and that is, the faces of the masses buried deep within the screens of their cellphones and with advertising abounding, online and offline, maybe we are being lured into a psychological realm that at its heart cares nothing for the mind, but one that exists primarily for profit.

Humans are not naturally digital creatures; and when living in a world of digits, bits and bytes, numbers on paper and in bank accounts, and flashing dollar signs, perhaps we are misusing our minds, like the skilled craftsman who, in want of a screwdriver, applies his utility knife to the job at hand, resulting in the dulling or snapping of his blade. Such existential questions are far beyond the scope of the mind of this writer.

But one thing that remains evident is, from whichever angle we view this foggy and confusing issue, the significant overall societal prevalence of mental illness cannot be denied. The unanswered question remains, from what source(s) does it stem; only once we are capable of answering this question, will we be able to solve the problem.

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