When at a cocktail party and you encounter someone new what is often the first question asked? "What do you do?" This reflects how our careers have become deeply woven into our sense of identity. Our jobs reveal more than just how we support our families and lifestyle; they reflect our education, interests, personality, and socioeconomic status. It's like presenting a brief biography during introductions, offering a snapshot of our lives.
I so appreciate this article and your work pushing back against the psychiatric colonization of our collective social/spiritual/emotion/mental landscapes. Having been falsely and irresponsibly labelled in my teens by professionals as having an incurable personality disorder, it's taken me 40 years to reframe my story from one of broken-ness and shame to embracing that young woman so desperately seeking help to survive emotionally within a household of abuse and silence.
I would add that these young people aren't just framing their own emotional difficulties in a mental health framework, but everyone else's emotional struggles as well. Therapists - not each other and our non-paid loved ones - are supposedly the only capable helpers. people are unlearning or never learning how listen and be with our loved ones when they are in pain.
I’m really grateful for your articles and enjoy them all. As a father of 7 young kids, sadly, I observe the trends you identify on a daily basis. I do want to push back on one thing, admittedly insignificant as it relates to the article, but worth noting because I do so rarely (perhaps almost never) disagree with any thing you write. Characterizing divorce as a “routine life event.” That’s not to suggest that a child of divorce requires a diagnosis or meds. Kids are, of course, incredibly resilient. But it’s just a recognition that the prevalence in our society by no means makes divorce “routine.” It’s so often an atomic bomb dropped on a child’s world. Thus, I don’t think it’s appropriate to include as an example of routine life events.
I agree mostly. However, I think the cPTSD description can be very helpful, it helps the sufferer understand that there is 'nothing wrong with them,' their symptoms are trauma induced, that relieves shame. One less layer to deal with.
It seems with each generation, we are less resilient, creating a culture where other people or medication enabling us to be less than our God given potential.
I'm also concerned about the idea that "It's Ok not to be Ok", as well as the spread of the idea of Positive Psychology, which leads people to believe that everyone can get out of difficult situations on their own, all they have to do is want to and think differently. It's very dangerous
Thank you for advocacy against the medicalization of everything (can I trademark that phrase?)
I'm 64, in keeping with the tenor of your post, I'll l say I have reason to believe, following extended observation, that I am 'somewhere on the Autism Spectrum,' but have not received a professional diagnosis. The raging debate between autistic people and the mental health profession is whether autism is a 'disease' or 'disorder' at all, but just difference, a variation from the 'norm' that is a 'disability' only to the extent that autistic people and non-autistic people fail to accommodate each other. When the DSM describes autistic people in terms of 'deficits,' it creates a marketplace for ways to 'cure' the alleged deficits, such as Applied Behavior Analysis, a so-called therapy that involves torturing children into mimicking 'normal' behavior. The 'kinder, gentler' updates to ABA in recent years are simply subtler forms of torture. This is not to deny that some forms of therapy or counseling can help autistic people to learn more effective strategies for navigating a world that isn't designed for them, nor should we argue away the truth that some autistic people will continue to need support, even institutional support in the worst cases. To what extent those challenges are features of autism or of comorbidities (can somebody please come up with less clumsy term) is a matter of ongoing debate and research, or should be. Once again, thank you for your advocacy in favor of sanity.
I so appreciate this article and your work pushing back against the psychiatric colonization of our collective social/spiritual/emotion/mental landscapes. Having been falsely and irresponsibly labelled in my teens by professionals as having an incurable personality disorder, it's taken me 40 years to reframe my story from one of broken-ness and shame to embracing that young woman so desperately seeking help to survive emotionally within a household of abuse and silence.
I would add that these young people aren't just framing their own emotional difficulties in a mental health framework, but everyone else's emotional struggles as well. Therapists - not each other and our non-paid loved ones - are supposedly the only capable helpers. people are unlearning or never learning how listen and be with our loved ones when they are in pain.
I’m really grateful for your articles and enjoy them all. As a father of 7 young kids, sadly, I observe the trends you identify on a daily basis. I do want to push back on one thing, admittedly insignificant as it relates to the article, but worth noting because I do so rarely (perhaps almost never) disagree with any thing you write. Characterizing divorce as a “routine life event.” That’s not to suggest that a child of divorce requires a diagnosis or meds. Kids are, of course, incredibly resilient. But it’s just a recognition that the prevalence in our society by no means makes divorce “routine.” It’s so often an atomic bomb dropped on a child’s world. Thus, I don’t think it’s appropriate to include as an example of routine life events.
I agree mostly. However, I think the cPTSD description can be very helpful, it helps the sufferer understand that there is 'nothing wrong with them,' their symptoms are trauma induced, that relieves shame. One less layer to deal with.
It seems with each generation, we are less resilient, creating a culture where other people or medication enabling us to be less than our God given potential.
Thank you for such an enlightening post Roger.
I think the question you raise is very pertinent.
I'm also concerned about the idea that "It's Ok not to be Ok", as well as the spread of the idea of Positive Psychology, which leads people to believe that everyone can get out of difficult situations on their own, all they have to do is want to and think differently. It's very dangerous
Thanks so much for this! Getting labeled young is very limiting for the rest of your life! No room for change. Getting out of the box is hard.
Thank you for advocacy against the medicalization of everything (can I trademark that phrase?)
I'm 64, in keeping with the tenor of your post, I'll l say I have reason to believe, following extended observation, that I am 'somewhere on the Autism Spectrum,' but have not received a professional diagnosis. The raging debate between autistic people and the mental health profession is whether autism is a 'disease' or 'disorder' at all, but just difference, a variation from the 'norm' that is a 'disability' only to the extent that autistic people and non-autistic people fail to accommodate each other. When the DSM describes autistic people in terms of 'deficits,' it creates a marketplace for ways to 'cure' the alleged deficits, such as Applied Behavior Analysis, a so-called therapy that involves torturing children into mimicking 'normal' behavior. The 'kinder, gentler' updates to ABA in recent years are simply subtler forms of torture. This is not to deny that some forms of therapy or counseling can help autistic people to learn more effective strategies for navigating a world that isn't designed for them, nor should we argue away the truth that some autistic people will continue to need support, even institutional support in the worst cases. To what extent those challenges are features of autism or of comorbidities (can somebody please come up with less clumsy term) is a matter of ongoing debate and research, or should be. Once again, thank you for your advocacy in favor of sanity.