I hate the current paradigms on "mental health"...

[Walilamdzii]

The way these issues are spoken about make me cringe. It's like newspeak or something.

 

[TransilvanianHunger]

Unfortunately, this is a very widespread problem, however I think that there's a bit of hope for improvement. There's a lot of psychobabble and "therapy speak" in common discourse, but there are some who are pushing back against such nonsense. Found this article today, for example:

Diagnoses listed in the DSM—the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the so-called bible of psychiatry—do not cause anything. They are not things. They are agreed-upon labels—a kind of shorthand—for describing symptoms. Generalized anxiety disorder means a person has been anxious or worried for six months or longer and it's bad enough to cause problems—nothing else. The diagnosis is description, not explanation. Saying anxiety is caused by generalized anxiety disorder makes as much sense as saying anxiety is caused by anxiety.

The same is true for other common DSM diagnoses. Major depressive disorder means a person has had continually depressed mood, or lack of interest or pleasure in activities, for two weeks or longer, along with several other symptoms which often accompany that. Major depressive disorder does not cause these symptoms, it is the term we use to describe them.

Here is the circular logic: How do we know a patient has depression? Because they have certain symptoms. Why are they having these symptoms? Because they have depression.

 

[Hollowman]

Profiting off peoples suffering should be a crime. Hopefully there's a special place in hell for them.