12.3 New Demographics by History of Psychiatry Podcast Series published on 2016-10-13T08:51:55Z Diagnoses such as autism are less than a century old. Other conditions, now central to our concerns about mental wellbeing, were hidden in the past, though this time because the demographic parameters were so markedly different. I’m going to look at two examples, which show how changing longevity and lifestyles may increase the observed incidence of mental disorders: dementia and substance abuse. I argue that changing demographics and different thresholds of what individuals tolerate in themselves and others are a better explanation of rising diagnoses, than are changing incidences of underlying pathologies. Image of the week: ‘Insanity supervening on habits of intemperance’, The Medical Times and Gazette, vol. 38 (1858) Full Bibliographic Record: Wellcome Library Catalogue L0028554 Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Genre Learning