That, sadly, is a stereotype put about by westerners. In poor countries, most people cannot afford the most basic health treatment, let alone a psychiatrist, if there were one. I work volunteer in Indonesia, and I can tell you that the stresses of life affect the poor as much as the rich, yet there is not a lot they can do about it. I have counselled women in distress because their children are about to return to school and they cannot afford books or pencils. I have listened to people whose children are dying and they can do nothing about it. They fall apart just as we do, my friend. I have seen women whose husbands have left them with several children and no options. I have seen middle class parents have to surrender their children to orphanages becuase they have no work. You have no idea the pain it caused them. I will never forget their faces: I have failed my children. Do you think this does not affect a person for the rest of their lives. I have seen children who have been abused, neglected and abandoned. Some of them went crazy. One just sat there repeating over and over that her father would come back for her. He didn't. AFter the Bali bombings, the number of suicides increased dramatically on the island, due to job losses.

I would conclude that it has to do with expectations. In the affluent countries it's a social matter of keeping up with the Jones. In poorer countries it's a matter of survival. They tend to be less concerned with the "hype" of life that we are exposed to.