According to a recent report, the number of mental illness cases in Bangkok soared 900 percent, from 587 per 100,000 to 5,485 in three years, said the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB). Among all patients in the Thailand's capital, 40 percent have mental disorders, 15 percent experience anxiety and 14 percent suffer severe depression, said the report. The national rate of people living with mental disease stands at 3,392 per 100,000 people. The report declared that changing life styles and increasing pollution were the primary causes of mental illness.

As I describe in my forthcoming book, Neurosociety, "Our aging and large population coupled with extensive global connectedness has created new problems for modern humans. In the last two hundred years, global population has soared from 300 million to over 6.5 billion. At the same time, life spans have more than doubled from 30 to over 70 years.

While many people question the uneven distribution of power that exists in today’s world, others are disillusioned by the happiness that wealth was supposed to provide. Constantly blasted with images of unattainable lifestyles, people face daily identity crises as they search for meaning in a world of continuously shifting truths. In every culture, feelings of uncertainty, depression, anger, and resentment have surfaced on a vast scale." In short, humanity faces a growing global mental illness crisis of epidemic proportions.