This is the most positive and sensible thing I've read on mental health in years. Thank you, Dr. McFillin. Due to your work, I've encouraged my daughter to wean herself from her anti-anxiety medication. She has found someone she cares about, and that love--looking outward instead of obsessing on her own mental state--has made a world of difference in her level of anxiety, much more than any Big Pharma drugs have accomplished. Thank you so much for your wisdom!
I appreciate your comprehensive dive into the broken mental health care system. When I think of youth and mental illness, I have noticed one consistent factor in their reduction of depression. That is productivity. I've seen young adults get a job with increasing responsibilities and suddenly they're not obsessing about themselves. Also, taking up a sport like running, hiking, or walking can make a huge difference. Again, thank you for your enlightening contribution to this growing crisis.
I loved this! As someone who has been caught up in "prioritizing mental health" for years, I can now see the effects in my kids (Millennials). Realizing the error of my ways, I can't tell you how many times I've recently told them things that you wrote ... things like, "it will pass" or "figure out what you can learn from it and move on" or "yes, you're anxious, but that doesn't make you crazy and it doesn't mean you have to DO something about it". But they were raised by someone who was caught up in it so it is now difficult to influence them. Ironically, both of them really struggle with their "mental health" - proving your point!!
I also think it is interesting that the pendulum has swung ... as what you're saying is similar to what my parents said to me. It isn't exactly the same as my parents would have been in to denying emotions. But the flavor is the same, "suck it up and go play outside". In the last few years (I'm in my early 60s), I've really started to see the value in their perspective. Both of them gave generously of their time and talents and were integral members of their community. They weren't the happiest people on earth, but they were content and always grateful. They certainly didn't dwell on their mental health.
You know why this trend is annoying? Because those that REALLY NEED mental health care can’t access it due to unprecedented demand. My son has debilitating OCD and cannot get consistent therapy.
Amen to this. If you have Soonercare (Medicaid) in Oklahoma you will have NO PROBLEM fining a PA or and RN to prescribe you whatever antidepressant you want but if you need to talk to someone and get a proper diagnosis forget it - impossible.
Yes! This is a tragic result of therapists preferring the “easy” patients—those that probably aren’t even mentally ill in the first place. I have a similar frustration: my son has an actual, diagnosed, life-threatening food allergy. So many have self-diagnosed their allergies because one time they got a stomach ache after eating a certain food and or they’ve decided gluten gives them a headache. It means that when we eat away from home, his allergy is not likely to be taken as seriously as it should.
God? How on earth does believing in one's particular imaginary friend improve your mental health? You espouse getting to the root of issues rather than drugs and 'mumbo jumbo' and now you claim that believing in a delusion is a natural antidepressant.
Many people find great comfort in religion, spiritual practices and rituals and yes God. I do not think that the list was meant to imply that every item was for every person. There are PLENTY of studies showing that those who pray and believe in God have positive mental and physical health outcomes. You may not believe in God, so maybe you choose walks in nature in stead.
In his “Tools for Conviviality”, Ivan Illich describes what he calls two watershed moments in the development of tools:
the first, when the development and application of a tool sees significant improvement of a domain because it functions as a means to an end;
the second, when the tool’s further development becomes significantly more costly and its application sees significantly diminished returns, plus it becomes manipulative since it is now it has ceased to be a means and is now its own end, creating its own self-serving standards, certifications, and does harm in the form of iatrogenic illness, social injustice, monopoly, etc.
Mental health is now squarely or beyond its second watershed moment.
This guy was in the spotlight for years because of the people like Benjamin Boyce, who gave visibility to another group of men dependent on psych drugs and hormonal drugs.
I wish someone like you can address this issue of "gender medicine" that's not only applied to people who have distress because of how they look, but also paraphilia ridden men who use these drugs.
What we miss to this day is a look at this issue from someone talking about medicalization of mental health.
I agree with everything you say but I am a tiny bit concerned about throwing the baby out with the bathwater because trauma is so prevalent, so painful and so damaging. Poverty - which escalates every year- is correlated with so much trauma; trauma can sometimes be very subtle and difficult to get a handle on. In the absence of enough therapists and counsellors what do you recommend? I am in huge, huge favour of school counsellors - good ones who are clinically sound and know how to teach resilience and grit; know how to spot trauma and make referrals when necessary. SAMHSA, AHRQ etc. - don't even get me started. The pill pushing has GOT to stop.
This is the most positive and sensible thing I've read on mental health in years. Thank you, Dr. McFillin. Due to your work, I've encouraged my daughter to wean herself from her anti-anxiety medication. She has found someone she cares about, and that love--looking outward instead of obsessing on her own mental state--has made a world of difference in her level of anxiety, much more than any Big Pharma drugs have accomplished. Thank you so much for your wisdom!
I appreciate your comprehensive dive into the broken mental health care system. When I think of youth and mental illness, I have noticed one consistent factor in their reduction of depression. That is productivity. I've seen young adults get a job with increasing responsibilities and suddenly they're not obsessing about themselves. Also, taking up a sport like running, hiking, or walking can make a huge difference. Again, thank you for your enlightening contribution to this growing crisis.
I loved this! As someone who has been caught up in "prioritizing mental health" for years, I can now see the effects in my kids (Millennials). Realizing the error of my ways, I can't tell you how many times I've recently told them things that you wrote ... things like, "it will pass" or "figure out what you can learn from it and move on" or "yes, you're anxious, but that doesn't make you crazy and it doesn't mean you have to DO something about it". But they were raised by someone who was caught up in it so it is now difficult to influence them. Ironically, both of them really struggle with their "mental health" - proving your point!!
I also think it is interesting that the pendulum has swung ... as what you're saying is similar to what my parents said to me. It isn't exactly the same as my parents would have been in to denying emotions. But the flavor is the same, "suck it up and go play outside". In the last few years (I'm in my early 60s), I've really started to see the value in their perspective. Both of them gave generously of their time and talents and were integral members of their community. They weren't the happiest people on earth, but they were content and always grateful. They certainly didn't dwell on their mental health.
As long as the problem remains so vaguely defined, it will also obstruct a clear solution.
You know why this trend is annoying? Because those that REALLY NEED mental health care can’t access it due to unprecedented demand. My son has debilitating OCD and cannot get consistent therapy.
Amen to this. If you have Soonercare (Medicaid) in Oklahoma you will have NO PROBLEM fining a PA or and RN to prescribe you whatever antidepressant you want but if you need to talk to someone and get a proper diagnosis forget it - impossible.
Yes! This is a tragic result of therapists preferring the “easy” patients—those that probably aren’t even mentally ill in the first place. I have a similar frustration: my son has an actual, diagnosed, life-threatening food allergy. So many have self-diagnosed their allergies because one time they got a stomach ache after eating a certain food and or they’ve decided gluten gives them a headache. It means that when we eat away from home, his allergy is not likely to be taken as seriously as it should.
God? How on earth does believing in one's particular imaginary friend improve your mental health? You espouse getting to the root of issues rather than drugs and 'mumbo jumbo' and now you claim that believing in a delusion is a natural antidepressant.
Many people find great comfort in religion, spiritual practices and rituals and yes God. I do not think that the list was meant to imply that every item was for every person. There are PLENTY of studies showing that those who pray and believe in God have positive mental and physical health outcomes. You may not believe in God, so maybe you choose walks in nature in stead.
In his “Tools for Conviviality”, Ivan Illich describes what he calls two watershed moments in the development of tools:
the first, when the development and application of a tool sees significant improvement of a domain because it functions as a means to an end;
the second, when the tool’s further development becomes significantly more costly and its application sees significantly diminished returns, plus it becomes manipulative since it is now it has ceased to be a means and is now its own end, creating its own self-serving standards, certifications, and does harm in the form of iatrogenic illness, social injustice, monopoly, etc.
Mental health is now squarely or beyond its second watershed moment.
Dr Roger, did you see this interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtPljJvVsVE ?
This guy was in the spotlight for years because of the people like Benjamin Boyce, who gave visibility to another group of men dependent on psych drugs and hormonal drugs.
I wish someone like you can address this issue of "gender medicine" that's not only applied to people who have distress because of how they look, but also paraphilia ridden men who use these drugs.
What we miss to this day is a look at this issue from someone talking about medicalization of mental health.
I agree with everything you say but I am a tiny bit concerned about throwing the baby out with the bathwater because trauma is so prevalent, so painful and so damaging. Poverty - which escalates every year- is correlated with so much trauma; trauma can sometimes be very subtle and difficult to get a handle on. In the absence of enough therapists and counsellors what do you recommend? I am in huge, huge favour of school counsellors - good ones who are clinically sound and know how to teach resilience and grit; know how to spot trauma and make referrals when necessary. SAMHSA, AHRQ etc. - don't even get me started. The pill pushing has GOT to stop.
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