No, our grandparents didn't just shake their heads and work it off. My paternal grandmother drank herself to death, her first husband (my grandfather) beat her and their kids, and finally took off--to this day no one even knows what happened to him (I never met him). My dad, who is in his late 70's now, turned into a psychopath, because of the abuse he endured growing up--so no, things weren't being "worked off" in that day. My maternal grandfather, who I also never met, died when my mom was five from alcohol induced kidney failure.Mental illness is a real disease and it has nothing to do with what country you live in. What you said is like saying, "You can't have cancer unless you live in Russia."