Undiagnose me
Undiagnose me: how shifting from individual pathology approach to challenging systems can help humanity survive mental health epidemic and addictions crisis.
The statistics around mental health illnesses has been alarming over the past decade. Every year the number of individuals receiving mental health diagnosis increase drastically to the point of almost every single person now feeling that they need one. We live in times of the mental health pandemic and addictions crisis, we lose lives, our youth are hopeless and no one seem to neither recognize that nor do something about it.
It is an expectation nowadays that one mentions their pronouns while introducing self. It has also become a new norm to share your mental health diagnosis with that. When we do that with a purpose of removing stigma around mental health illness, we do not necessarily realize potential harmful outcomes. The impacts of this modern trend lead to a phenomenon that can be called “normalizing pathologizing”. People who experience ongoing intense emotions or reactions to the external circumstances become victims of systemic conventional approach to trauma. The main limitation of the mainstream approach to mental health struggles is the lack of time or willingness of mental health professionals to help individuals make sense of their experiences. They are quick to diagnose people and offer medication to problems that require comprehensive therapeutic assessments and recommendations along with ongoing treatment. The majority of individuals trust professionals and never challenge what they are being told by psychiatrists or psychologists who focus on treating symptoms without looking into the causes. Moreover, diagnoses that victims of the system receive put focus on the individual who is suffering from mental health struggles and are being expected to manage them on their own. When in reality, mental health pandemic and addictions crisis are caused by larger systems which fail to look at the bigger picture and point out that humanity has become its own evil.
We fail to speak up when we see how internet and social media lead to suicide crisis and eating disorders epidemic amongst youth who are vulnerable to peer pressure. We fail to voice our true opinions on disabling individuals by making them belief that they have no power over their struggles and have no chances to thrive but exist within welfare system. We disadvantage people by feeling sorry for when they go through intense experiences of trauma rather than giving them hope by believing in their strength and resiliency. We contribute into the mental health pandemic and addictions crisis by allowing huge corporations become richer through developing businesses that do not prioritize human dignity, worth and value. We suffer the outcomes of our lack of courage to stand up for ourselves and our children who have become the victims of these modern times.
Humanity has not been equipped to handle such a rapid growth of technologies which leads to overwhelming experiences of anxiety, panic attacks, depression, suicidal thoughts and so on. Our psyche does not have the capacity to manage the amount of stimuli and artificial expectations that we have been pressured with. We are so used to comfort that we have lost our natural ability to tolerate difficulties and stress. In the era of fast fixes and instant gratification we have unlearnt natural ways of maintaining psychological well-being and healing. Insatiable for pleasure and comfort we look for easy ways to make ourselves feel good without being able to wait or reflect on the outcomes of our own actions.
Conventional mental health system has adopted the same approach to the individuals’ struggles that are essentially natural reactions to inability to handle expectations of the modern world. It offers quick solutions that fail to solve complex problems. It creates vicious cycle that leads to the mental health pandemic and addictions crisis. Mental health professionals who have years of education and practice are being trusted to help individuals in need. Yet, by avoiding talking about the elephant in the room for whatever reasons, they are not just unable to help, they put people at risk of being harmed by such approach. The clear evidence of such approach is the number of individuals in North America who have mental health diagnosis but do not have understanding of it nor access to proper support that they need.
By shifting focus from individuals to systems we will be able to explain concerning dynamics and trends that we witness every day. By adopting approach that allows individuals explore their emotions and help make sense of trauma we will shift away from labelling and pathologizing natural reactions to unnatural experiences. It is absolutely critical because it will help people to feel normal, to belief that they do have power over their reactions, and that they do have control over their lives. Living and raising children in a society that is resilient and strength oriented will help humanity to restore the fundamental feeling of safety and hope.
