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I don't think it is the right mindset. Mental health is a spectrum as much as "being fit" is a spectrum. Just because you aren't morbidly obese doesn't mean you won't benefit from learning how to take care of your body. Most people don't need a personal trainer and a dietician when they gained a few kilos extra. The same way everybody needs to understand how to heal their mind and recognize when things get difficult enough to benefit from professional health.


I guess my point is that I think kids should be hoping they don't have any medical condition instead of asking a therapist "Doc, can you find me a diagnosis that fits my current mood somewhere between asbergers and schizophrenia with a dash of manic depressive"


Of course. We are just going through a strange period of mental health. It used to be: "only very very serious problems are worth attention and in this case only professional can help you". This is why it was (and to an extent still is) stigmatized. Now we are moving towards "we all have mental health problems of different severity, mental health isn't binary". However, people still operate with the old dogma: "have a problem? Go to therapy, you can't help yourself, don't even try". That's why people tend to go to psychologists (and psychiatrists) more and more. Of course, many expect to get a prescription that fixes them magically the same way they want to have a pill for literally any medical problem.

However, just saying "there is nothing wrong with you" often means "your state does not fit any of predefined diagnoses" rather than "it is perfectly normal to feel that way". The same way people often complain about back pain and doctors can only say "there is no acute injury, Xray is fine, nothing I can do for you". It doesn't mean you can ignore it and go about your day. It means that most likely you have to find a lifestyle change to fix this yourself. It can be yoga, it can be getting a better chair and being more active, it can be a new mattress, etc.

Physical pain is more straightforward because most people understand that feeling pain is not normal, it means something is wrong. Nobody will tell you "if doc said you are okay, then your back pain is made up, you should stop being so dramatic".


And I’d argue the self help industry - which has existed for a good 100 years now - has served this purpose for these types of folks.




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