What the 50's and 60's?
I think society placed stronger emphasis on family bonds back then. I mean in Australia alone they had so much to worry about with things like enlisting for war, getting through the great depression and cyclical unemployment that "finding themselves" and generally being selfish wern't really a top priority. You had to stick together.
Our generation never faced having to ration for things, worry about being forced into the millitary etc, so why was suicide so high in the 90's with the nirvana era? Why was zoloft and prozac among the top prescribed drugs in the late 90's why in 2006 is drug and alcohol abuse at record highs? (Did you know Australia has the second highest consumption of meth amphetamines in the world....Second to Thailand)