Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?
nytimes.com
Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?
1–10 of 25 posts
Re: Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?
#2Who is the "WE"?
only if you have been diagnosed with Logorrhea.
Or you have been prescribed Amphetamines.
Or taken illegal drugs like Crack cocaine.
Re: Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?
#3Who is the "WE"? only if you have been diagnosed with Logorrhea. Or you have been prescribed Amphetamines. Or taken illegal drugs like Crack cocaine.
No, this is not true.
Teenagers these days are convinced that all stress is anxiety, all sadness is depression, and all negative emotions besides anger are sicknesses that must be treated with therapy and/or chemicals.
See also https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/opinion/teenagers-mental-...
Re: Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?
#4Who is the "WE"? only if you have been diagnosed with Logorrhea. Or you have been prescribed Amphetamines. Or taken illegal drugs like Crack cocaine.
No, this is not true. Teenagers these days are convinced that all stress is anxiety, all sadness is depression, and all negative emotions besides anger are sicknesses that must be treated with therapy and/or chemicals. See also https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/opinion/teenagers-mental-...
Not just teenagers.
How many adults have you come across who (inappropriately) describe pedantry as OCD, or losing focus from time to time as ADHD, or being a bit withdrawn as 'autistic'?
There's no scope for people to simply be imperfect people with imperfect character traits any more. Any minor deviation is considered to be a personal disability.
That's not to say ADHD and OCD and autism don't exist—of course they do. And I also believe that they've been under-diagnosed historically. But not all symptoms are diseases. I don't know how we solve it without ignoring people who really need help, but it's definitely an issue.
Re: Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?
#5Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, this is not true. Teenagers these days are convinced that all stress is anxiety, all sadness is depression, and all negative emotions besides anger are sicknesses that must be treated with therapy and/or chemicals. See also https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/opinion/teenagers-mental-...
Not just teenagers. How many adults have you come across who (inappropriately) describe pedantry as OCD, or losing focus from time to time as ADHD, or being a bit withdrawn as 'autistic'? There's no scope for people to simply be imperfect people with imperfect character traits any more. Any minor deviation is considered to be a personal disability. That's not to say ADHD and OCD and autism don't exist—of course they…
I have a recent ADHD diagnosis (M 21 / from Germany) and this apparent social media trend of having ADHD makes it very hard for me to get taken seriously with my diagnosis.
I'm very sure that my diagnosis is right (they even talked with my primary school teachers and I respond very well to the meds), but I still get these moments of self doubt / imposter syndrome in which im thinking, that I might just have made this up to trick other people and lift some responsibility from myself.
Re: Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?
#6Quite the opposite. Any conversation remotely related to mental health == "see a therapist". No need to frame things as mental health topic, most of the time you don't need someone who is a expert in psychoanalysis to help people, you just need to listen to people, show some empathy and be generous with your time. Of course, it is easier said than done.
I've had to many conversations where trying to establish some depth and personal connection results in being shunted to "see a therapist/medical professional/lawyer". As if those are plenty, accessible and affordable.
Re: Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, this is not true. Teenagers these days are convinced that all stress is anxiety, all sadness is depression, and all negative emotions besides anger are sicknesses that must be treated with therapy and/or chemicals. See also https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/opinion/teenagers-mental-...
Not just teenagers. How many adults have you come across who (inappropriately) describe pedantry as OCD, or losing focus from time to time as ADHD, or being a bit withdrawn as 'autistic'? There's no scope for people to simply be imperfect people with imperfect character traits any more. Any minor deviation is considered to be a personal disability. That's not to say ADHD and OCD and autism don't exist—of course they…
Like everything in the health world it's a spectrum isn't it. Where you draw the cutoff for something being a disorder and needing intervention is super subjective. Probably something where too much talk doesn't necessarily help, as it seems to dilute that threshold over time.
I guess that's just it, it's a spectrum and even "normal" people can be somewhere on it. And decisions about diagnosis or labeling etc should be taken based on degree of impairment to functioning.
Saying that, we really do want to make kids aware of mental health issues (the same as health in general). I really could have benefited from an education about OCD, as it took me more than ten years to understand why I struggled so much.
Re: Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, this is not true. Teenagers these days are convinced that all stress is anxiety, all sadness is depression, and all negative emotions besides anger are sicknesses that must be treated with therapy and/or chemicals. See also https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/opinion/teenagers-mental-...
Not just teenagers. How many adults have you come across who (inappropriately) describe pedantry as OCD, or losing focus from time to time as ADHD, or being a bit withdrawn as 'autistic'? There's no scope for people to simply be imperfect people with imperfect character traits any more. Any minor deviation is considered to be a personal disability. That's not to say ADHD and OCD and autism don't exist—of course they…
Looking at how mental health was treated before the 80s-90s and that you easily lost control over your life. It's understandable not disclosing serious mental health problems. Personally I didn't disclose my bipolar diagnosis for 20 years because of prejudice like yours. It's not that you don't recognize mental health issues; it's that often people with your mindset don't believe that others are truly sick because they are acting otherwise "normal".
Re: Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not just teenagers. How many adults have you come across who (inappropriately) describe pedantry as OCD, or losing focus from time to time as ADHD, or being a bit withdrawn as 'autistic'? There's no scope for people to simply be imperfect people with imperfect character traits any more. Any minor deviation is considered to be a personal disability. That's not to say ADHD and OCD and autism don't exist—of course they…
Like everything in the health world it's a spectrum isn't it. Where you draw the cutoff for something being a disorder and needing intervention is super subjective. Probably something where too much talk doesn't necessarily help, as it seems to dilute that threshold over time. I guess that's just it, it's a spectrum and even "normal" people can be somewhere on it. And decisions about diagnosis or labeling etc should…
Absolutely agree on the 'spectrum' point, and I would argue that it's not that case that 'normal' people can be somewhere on it, but everyone is on it, even if they're all the way to the left.
If we take OCD as an example, there's clearly a huge range from 'I like the TV volume to be set to an even number' through to massive impairments to functioning to the point it's impossible to hold down a job, or that it's damaging your personal relationships.
I am a bit less comfortable with saying that it's "super subjective" where you draw the cutoff though. I agree there's some subjectivity there, but the diagnostic cutoff (per DSM-V) is quite clearly defined, and leaves relatively little room for subjective interpretation: "The obsessions or compulsions are time-consuming (e.g. - take more than 1 hour per day) or cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning."
I think it's unhelpful if folks who (for example) like their TV to be set to an even number talk about 'their OCD'. Or people who like things to be neat and tidy. Similarly for ADHD, the verbiage is: 'interferes with functioning or development/there is clear evidence that the symptoms interfere with, or reduce the quality of, social, academic, or occupational functioning.' Or ASD, where it's defined as 'caus[ing] clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.'
Re: Are We Talking Too Much About Mental Health?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not just teenagers. How many adults have you come across who (inappropriately) describe pedantry as OCD, or losing focus from time to time as ADHD, or being a bit withdrawn as 'autistic'? There's no scope for people to simply be imperfect people with imperfect character traits any more. Any minor deviation is considered to be a personal disability. That's not to say ADHD and OCD and autism don't exist—of course they…
Looking at how mental health was treated before the 80s-90s and that you easily lost control over your life. It's understandable not disclosing serious mental health problems. Personally I didn't disclose my bipolar diagnosis for 20 years because of prejudice like yours. It's not that you don't recognize mental health issues; it's that often people with your mindset don't believe that others are truly sick because th…
I'm sorry that you feel that way, that wasn't the intention of my comment at all, and to be clear, I am not trying to refute any individual diagnosis. I strongly believe that those suffering with mental health issues, whether they're chronic or acute, deserve recognition and support. I'm not a psychiatrist, and even if I were, I don't know you at all, so please don't take my comment personally, or assume any negative prejudice on my side.
That being said, there is a significant and growing body of evidence which indicates that autism[0], ADHD[1], and OCD[2] are being overdiagnosed, or diagnosed without proper clinical rigour.
How can those who are suffering from these disorders hope to get the best quality help if there are so many challenges around proper diagnosis?
[0]: https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcpp.... [1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042533/ [2]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26132683/