Stephen S. Ilardi

In many respects, modern Americans should be among the happiest people in the history of the world. Whether we look at rates of infant mortality, hunger, medical care, life expectancy, or material comforts, Americans are better off (on average) than most people who have ever lived. Doesn't it toon meer follow, then, that we should also be among the least likely to get depressed? Shouldn't we, at the very least, have lower rates of depression than contemporary hunter - gatherers, whose lives are so much harder than our own? . . . Ominously, the rate of depression among Americans has been on the rise for decades. It's roughly ten times higher today than it was just two generations ago. How can people possibly be so much more vulnerable to depression now? What has changed? The culprit, I believe, is lifestyle. - Stephen S. Ilardi, PhD toon minder