3 ms·
The best description I've heard of why more diagnosis is better is that as a society we're moving up Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs from level 2 "Safety Needs" t
by solarmist 4y ago
The best description I've heard of why more diagnosis is better is that as a society we're moving up Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs from level 2 "Safety Needs"
to level 3 "Love and Belonging".
For the first time in history there is psychological space to care about mental health and social issues en mass. So, of course, there's going to be an explosion of diagnosis.
- remarkEon 4y agoThat doesn’t strike me as a good thing. Maintenance of “safety needs” is part and parcel of finding love and belonging in the first place. If we’re offloading that all together, then yeah I can see how more and more get depressed and suicidal. They don’t have anything to live for when you get down to it.
- solarmist 4y agoThat's not what moving up means; they're cumulative from the bottom up. You can't move up to the next level until all lower levels are consistently met. Moving up means those needs are being met satisfactorily and can be maintained without prolonged attention. And if a lower level stops being met, your level will fall to that level until it is met again. I.e., if you're hungry and don't know when your next meal is, then who the hell cares if you're anxious, angry, or happy? You have more pressing concerns.
- remarkEon 4y agoRight, I'm aware of Maslow's work, I just think it's wrong on a number of different dimensions, or at least incomplete.
- solarmist 4y agoSure, I agree, at best it is a gross simplification. But it’s useful and, in my opinion, captures the most basic relationship which is that some needs have higher priority than others and will drive those other needs to the recesses. What about that do you disagree with?