New report suggests people getting crazier...

It was Friedrich Nietzsche that once said, "Under conditions of peace the warlike man attacks himself." That doesn't really have anything to do with this story but we thought it may serve to make us look intelligent. And perhaps it will. The real news is that if you were starting to think that people were becoming crazier, more neurotic, and more random than they used to be, it turns out that you might be right. Maybe it's all that channel flicking.

New reports detailed by the government today have revealed that the cost of looking after people with mental illness will rise to £47bn by 2026 as a result of demographic changes that will see more elderly people floating about. The main mental affliction that is expected to wrap its quivering fingers around the minds of mere men (and women) is dementia. By a leap of 61%.

King's Fund chief executive Niall Dickson said: "The fact that we are living longer is a cause for celebration but it will mean that the health and social care systems will have to cope with a dramatic increase in the number of people suffering from dementia."

Nobody seems to know the exact causes of dementia in old age, some blame it on coffee, others television, and some just the fragile and fugacious nature of the human mind in general. Westmonster doesn't really have any answers either, but we do see an opportunity to point out that human beings are one of the only species on the planet to cling on to life for as long as possible, maybe that has something to do with it.

Take whales for example, if a whale gets old to keep up with the rest of the pod, the rest simply swim off and leave the it for the sharks. The oldest buffalo in the gang may be left behind to prevent the young from being eaten by lions. It's survival of the fittest out there. In our side of town it still seems that quantity is better than quality.

Obviously, we're not suggesting that we should start mowing down the elderly when we see them crossing the roads. It's just something to think about.

And you might as well think whilst you still can...

Written by Oli Anderson on 28 May 2008 3:26 PM. Permalink