by Jason King

Created on: September 22, 2008

In todays society there is many factors that play parts in the mental health of the individual. Society as a whole directly affects the mental capacity of what a human being can or cannot do. It is entirely plausible to say that secularization of the great religions of the world has caused a change in the way people think in this new modern world. For a great time religion was seen as the answer to many of the social problems that people faced; things like illness, scientific questions, mysticism of religion, and mental disorders where a few things that religions dealt with.

The problem stems from the simple fact that many people are now turning to other forms of worship to answer these same problems, and society as a whole hasn't caught up with the issue that people cannot deal with these tribulations on their own accord. Society is oppressing itself. The proof of this lies in the fact that society is a construct of what man sees in this world, because what do we really need to survive; the simple things that we need are not the hard answers that we have to have, yet we have this drive to answer these questions. What is the meaning of life? Is there anything better out there? Is there any love out there? Why can I not handle this situation?

The result of all of these pressures on society, the drive apart from basic needs, causes oppression of select groups; that is when that group poses an answer that is against the grain of mainstream society, or if that person can not deal with the reality of the construct. If a man goes off to fight a war, because the construct of society deems that he must to defend society, or its beliefs, he may come back from that war with a mental dysfunction. It isn't necessarily one factor that leads him to this dysfunction, but it could be several. He could go to war believing that his country is the best one, and it will protect him from the horrendous world which is war, he could think because he comes from this great nation that he won't suffer. Freedom isn't something that is free, and he might be forced to deal with an issue that he hasn't been mentally prepared for. How many times in society do you hear of things that threaten your very existence? You may hear of some theories, you may have one in mind now, but ask yourself this now: How has society prepared me to deal with that on a personal level?

You may find yourself like our soldier here, and be forced with a situation you cannot deal with and develop a mental disorder like

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