One of the more inspiring articles I've read from anyone in a while., but also one of the most, if not the most honest. I think that, if we've spent any time around a college campus in the 21st century that we've seen a lot of this mental health crisis play out. Or, even in the workplace, for that matter.
When people who aren't satisfied with where they are in life, or if they saw they've been dealt a bad hand, it's supposedly "always someone else's fault." I can tell you from primary sources that's not the case.
I've, and I'm sure many of your readers have, seen people hit rock bottom. Maybe external forces they couldn't control contributed to it, but those who looked inward and said to themselves, "Okay, this is the situation I'm in, and it's up to me to dig myself out of it," have been some of the more successful people I know. And they're people I look up to.
I don’t think the idea that what is generally called mental illness may have biological causes is , per se , wrong. But it’s overdone and at times devolves into gross oversimplification. It’s not irrelevant to drag Thomas Szasz’s Myth of Mental Illness into this. Szasz insisted on drawing a distinction between physical illness and what we call mental illness. To simplify, we can test for cancer and identify it. We can’t for depression. That’s not to say it doesn’t exist ( Szasz wasn’t saying that even if he had a tendency to go to far). So the , I’ll give you a pill and you’ll be “ cured” model is rather lacking because it’s often rather unclear what the pill is treating and how. Now I do think in some cases medical and physical treatments can be extremely helpful. Look, biological conditions clearly influence mental states. That’s not worth arguing about. Assuming otherwise is to fall into an extreme dualism. Now anything that focuses exclusively on external causality can be destructive. Telling people you’re mentally ill because you’re being attacked by demons strikes me as rather unhelpful.Assuming you’re crazy because of society or capitalism, ditto.Realizing you can take actions that will improve your life and taking them is tremendously important. Hence your perception of the locus of control, does matter. But this isn’t strictly an either or. You can overdo your perception of self control. You aren’t a puppet in the universe but you’re not a complete master either. It’s good to recognize that there are things beyond your control. Yes , it is good to learn to cope. You can overdo the I can control or fix this mindset, fail and wind up with a very negative mindset ridden by guilt and a sense of failure. I suggesting , balance , a kind of via media. Taking this back to the brain disease model, yes it’s overdone and can be harmful but in at some instances, sticking to your therapeutic regimen which may include taking medication may the beginning of taking responsibility for your condition. We’re not in a one size fits all world.
@Sasha Stone, here on Substack is another Liberal who broke free of their control and has some wonderfully inspiring stories and insights as to the mindset and she too has spoken about mental health crisis among them.
One of the more inspiring articles I've read from anyone in a while., but also one of the most, if not the most honest. I think that, if we've spent any time around a college campus in the 21st century that we've seen a lot of this mental health crisis play out. Or, even in the workplace, for that matter.
When people who aren't satisfied with where they are in life, or if they saw they've been dealt a bad hand, it's supposedly "always someone else's fault." I can tell you from primary sources that's not the case.
I've, and I'm sure many of your readers have, seen people hit rock bottom. Maybe external forces they couldn't control contributed to it, but those who looked inward and said to themselves, "Okay, this is the situation I'm in, and it's up to me to dig myself out of it," have been some of the more successful people I know. And they're people I look up to.
I don’t think the idea that what is generally called mental illness may have biological causes is , per se , wrong. But it’s overdone and at times devolves into gross oversimplification. It’s not irrelevant to drag Thomas Szasz’s Myth of Mental Illness into this. Szasz insisted on drawing a distinction between physical illness and what we call mental illness. To simplify, we can test for cancer and identify it. We can’t for depression. That’s not to say it doesn’t exist ( Szasz wasn’t saying that even if he had a tendency to go to far). So the , I’ll give you a pill and you’ll be “ cured” model is rather lacking because it’s often rather unclear what the pill is treating and how. Now I do think in some cases medical and physical treatments can be extremely helpful. Look, biological conditions clearly influence mental states. That’s not worth arguing about. Assuming otherwise is to fall into an extreme dualism. Now anything that focuses exclusively on external causality can be destructive. Telling people you’re mentally ill because you’re being attacked by demons strikes me as rather unhelpful.Assuming you’re crazy because of society or capitalism, ditto.Realizing you can take actions that will improve your life and taking them is tremendously important. Hence your perception of the locus of control, does matter. But this isn’t strictly an either or. You can overdo your perception of self control. You aren’t a puppet in the universe but you’re not a complete master either. It’s good to recognize that there are things beyond your control. Yes , it is good to learn to cope. You can overdo the I can control or fix this mindset, fail and wind up with a very negative mindset ridden by guilt and a sense of failure. I suggesting , balance , a kind of via media. Taking this back to the brain disease model, yes it’s overdone and can be harmful but in at some instances, sticking to your therapeutic regimen which may include taking medication may the beginning of taking responsibility for your condition. We’re not in a one size fits all world.
@Sasha Stone, here on Substack is another Liberal who broke free of their control and has some wonderfully inspiring stories and insights as to the mindset and she too has spoken about mental health crisis among them.
Thank you for pointing out Christa Buttons, Jon.