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Mental health is a very very undeveloped field. We don't have good treatments for most illnesses. We don't even really know which illnesses are which (take a lo

Mental health is a very very undeveloped field. We don't have good treatments for most illnesses. We don't even really know which illnesses are which (take a look at how the DSM changes over relatively short time periods). This is the real reason people are hesitant to admit having or discuss others illnesses. Full disclosure, I'm one of those people. I have what has been variously called Severe Depression, Treatment Resistant Depression, Major Mood Disorder and is now called Major Depressive Disorder. My symptoms haven't changed and its only been a decade. So you can see how ephemeral diseases are in this field. Until we can reliably classify diseases, we can't even look for causes. Until we have causes, treatments are no better than herbal medicine.

cmehdy 6y ago
The DSM is a guide on average, not a book of truth. For one, it offers SOMETHING to discuss in the first place. The names change, there are sometimes huge mistakes in those books, etc.. That's absolutely true. It doesn't mean that there is no progress to the process, even if admittedly it's all pretty slow (for reasons that everyone will have their own opinion about). I've lived my life since early childhood with various major issues, of which only recently Major depressive disorder and Generalized anxiety disorder were the primary diagnoses (but there are other major things that I'd prefer keeping to myself). Putting some name, ANY name, on those issues, allowed me to look for what is usually brought up to improve things. Doing that allowed me to apply certain tools to my situation which have been incredibly helpful, and those tools include both therapy and medical treatment. Doing THAT allowed me to stop digging a deeper grave. I'm not cured from depression, suicidal ideation, cognitive distortions, etc.. much in the same way a burn victim isn't cured from it when they're still in the medical ward working at their rehabilitation. It's not a reason to say that the medical ward is useless. So even if you are not satisfied with the state of things (and I'm not either btw), at least you can concede that having people trying to apply scientific processes to the issues AND having a world-spanning effort in significant numbers will do more to help figure things out than any localized shamanism effort.
- LatteLazy 6y ago
  I don't want to run down the process completely. You're right that some level of classification is necessary to access services in the current system. That's fine as long as people realise that that is all a "diagnosis" is in this field. Too often people think a diagnosis means there is a tried and tested correct treatment...
  - cmehdy 6y ago
    To think that there is a singular defined answer to any possible thing and that we know it for any given field is to conflate models and reality. For some reason, and after many collapses, we've started to understand such distinctions when it comes to bridge building - which we've done for millenia. That it takes a while for mental health to be seen in the same light is not surprising to me, as we've really seemingly started to give it some attention only in the last century (or last few centuries if we're being very generous).

cmehdy 6y ago

The DSM is a guide on average, not a book of truth. For one, it offers SOMETHING to discuss in the first place. The names change, there are sometimes huge mistakes in those books, etc.. That's absolutely true. It doesn't mean that there is no progress to the process, even if admittedly it's all pretty slow (for reasons that everyone will have their own opinion about). I've lived my life since early childhood with various major issues, of which only recently Major depressive disorder and Generalized anxiety disorder were the primary diagnoses (but there are other major things that I'd prefer keeping to myself). Putting some name, ANY name, on those issues, allowed me to look for what is usually brought up to improve things. Doing that allowed me to apply certain tools to my situation which have been incredibly helpful, and those tools include both therapy and medical treatment. Doing THAT allowed me to stop digging a deeper grave. I'm not cured from depression, suicidal ideation, cognitive distortions, etc.. much in the same way a burn victim isn't cured from it when they're still in the medical ward working at their rehabilitation. It's not a reason to say that the medical ward is useless. So even if you are not satisfied with the state of things (and I'm not either btw), at least you can concede that having people trying to apply scientific processes to the issues AND having a world-spanning effort in significant numbers will do more to help figure things out than any localized shamanism effort.

LatteLazy 6y ago
I don't want to run down the process completely. You're right that some level of classification is necessary to access services in the current system. That's fine as long as people realise that that is all a "diagnosis" is in this field. Too often people think a diagnosis means there is a tried and tested correct treatment...
- cmehdy 6y ago
  To think that there is a singular defined answer to any possible thing and that we know it for any given field is to conflate models and reality. For some reason, and after many collapses, we've started to understand such distinctions when it comes to bridge building - which we've done for millenia. That it takes a while for mental health to be seen in the same light is not surprising to me, as we've really seemingly started to give it some attention only in the last century (or last few centuries if we're being very generous).