Following trends in industrial farming and reported mental health in America (and I would assume worldwide) shows a remarkable correlation between deteriorating living conditions of animals and increse in reported mental illness, such as autism, hypertension, anxiety, borderline personality disorder as well as BiPolar disorder and others.
In 1933 only about one out of every ten American farms was powered by electricity. The Rural Electrification Authority addressed this pressing problem. The government embarked on a mission of getting electricity to the nation's farms. Faced with government competition, private utility companies sprang into action and by sending power lines to rural areas with a speed previously unknown. By 1950, nine out of every ten farms enjoyed the benefits of electric power. Why is this important?
Well before farms were powered by electricity, they had to be free range. You simply couldn't lock mass amounts of animals in tight spaces and get the yield out of the product as you can now with electricity, thus the living conditions and with it the mental state of the animals has plummeted since 1950.
Is it possible that memories live in the blood? I believe it very well may be the case.
In National Socialist Germany, under Hitler, a program was instilled for the ethical euthanization of animals and Hitler himself was a vegetarian. Is it possible that he understood something that has been overlooked to this day?
It seems reasoable to assume that if you take in the flesh of an animal that has lived a life of mistreatment, most likely suffered a lifetime of stress and anxiety and depression, that you may, in turn, yield some of the effects on brain chemistry that the animal experienced. If by nothing more than hormones effecting the blood, although I feel it may span beyond that.
Causation =/= correlation but it cannot be overlooked that the life experience of the animals we ingest may have an effect on the brain chemistry we experience.
We're often told that with modern medicine lifespans are increasing. Perhaps from the time of 100-300 years ago we can say that is true, but think about the fact that at the time Socrates drank the Hemloch, he was 73 years old. That was over 3,500years go. Remember Plato told us at that age he was running around and being a bit of a heretic, leading the youth in thought experiment. So, have lifespans really expanded?
Now, people talk abot the processing and chemicals that enter our foods, but nobody discusses the mental state of our food. Consider the remarkable increase in mental health deterioration of our society, it's definitely worth a closer look.
some notable considerations:
The first volume of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was published in 1952 and included 106 cataloged mental disorders
Mental illness was defined in an extreme way, causing the public to reject mentally ill people
the public viewed both patients and doctors of mental illnesses in a negative way
One in three families would admit a family member to a mental institution
Surgeon General’s Report: “unscientific understanding of mental illness” by public
1950's mental illness treatment saw a rise in humane treatments
The number of institution patients reached its peak-560,000
The first ever anti psychotic–Thorazine–was introduced in 1954
decreased the amount of time patients stayed in institutions and the usage of inhumane treatments
Lobotomy and electroconvulsive shock treatment were leading treatment methods within asylums
Lithium was discovered as a treatment for bipolar disorder in 1949
Institutions began to provide outpatient care, day and night hospitalizations, diagnostic services, and more extensive diagnosis and treatment
It's truly been downhill since then. From 1953 to 2014 reported cases of mental disorder went from 1.7% of the population to over 24% of the US population suffering from some form of mental health disorder with 6.7% of American Adults having experienced at least one major depressive episode per year.
This was a really interesting topic for me to look into. I have the links to statistics with the original writeup I made on this but the numbers are very easy to find yourself with a simple search on something other than google.
"We are what we eat" but do we experience the mindset of what we eat as well? I think yes.