V
Villan Of The North
Guest
I know, a rather inflammatory headline and perhaps not quite what I'm asking as my question is more diffuse than a direct question of mental illness.
Firstly I am in no way belittling those that have genuine a mental illness, my brother-in-law is manic depressive (bi-polar for all you 'muricanites out there) and I've seen the struggles he has gone through with great dignity. I have personally suffered from SAD, not uncommon in this part of the world (Scandinavia) however, I have noticed 2 very definite developments in society that might be considered detrimental to society as a whole.....but only might.
I'm not sure I'll be able to do my argument justice on via this media as it's not easy to explain without sounding like I'm being heartless, which some may well think I am but I assure you, it really is not the case.
The first development is the over-positive nature of society. What I mean by this is peer groups that support and compliment without necessarily thinking about it, meaning it or even knowing if it's appropriate as they don't have the background information. I see it on a daily basis, particularly in Facebook comments, I also see people fishing for such responses by posting so called cryptic status messages like "Oh no!" or "So unfair", to which the standard replies are, "You ok hun?", "Stay strong", "I don't know what the problem is but I know you're strong enough to get through it" and so on. Every picture has to be greeted with "Stunning", "So handsome/pretty" and the like. The massaging of egos and people's self esteem is endless, many are probably thinking that this can only be a good thing but is it? Firstly, if it's not something you'd say to someone's face then does it really have any meaning when it's said on line? Secondly, people are being so sheltered from the "real world" (if such a thing exists) that perhaps they will not cope when things don't work out and they don't have their gang of cheer leaders to build them up again. Are we creating a race of mentally week people?
Which leads me to the second development, the need to diagnose and label anything and everything. The simple fact is, many of these conditions, real or imagined, can not be treated. The only reason for diagnosis is to allow a label to be attached that either condemns the individual to a lesser life or is used as an excuse, making allowances that will not actually help them to lead a normal life. A classic example of this is ADHD. I don't doubt that there are some genuine cases and they need some kind of treatment but when I look at a good number of cases diagnosed I know for a fact that when I was a kid, I too would have received that diagnosis had it been recognised at the time, and I can't imagine it ever being anything more than a burden for me to carry. I know of one or two cases when people were medicated but when they left school they stopped the medicine and had no problems with their further education, one girl said to me that she just didn't like school and was bored but when she was given the chance to study something she is interested in, it was no problem.....she is now a fully qualified and working chef.
Whatever happened to just getting on with life? When did we become so needy that we need the affirmations and approval of others just to get through the day? Whatever happened to kids being taught by teachers who knew how to control a classroom, how to engage the students (and no, I don't mean corporal punishment, a good teacher doesn't need it) Dare I say it, what ever happened to "pull yourself together"? Which I know is entirely unhelpful for those with genuine mental health issues but for the majority of us that are just having a bad day, it really is the only thing that works. Have we become so interdependent that we struggle to function without the approval of others and if so, what happens when that network is not available, is our society primed for a social crash, like the economic one we experienced and have been paying for since 2007?
Or maybe I'm just heartless?
Firstly I am in no way belittling those that have genuine a mental illness, my brother-in-law is manic depressive (bi-polar for all you 'muricanites out there) and I've seen the struggles he has gone through with great dignity. I have personally suffered from SAD, not uncommon in this part of the world (Scandinavia) however, I have noticed 2 very definite developments in society that might be considered detrimental to society as a whole.....but only might.
I'm not sure I'll be able to do my argument justice on via this media as it's not easy to explain without sounding like I'm being heartless, which some may well think I am but I assure you, it really is not the case.
The first development is the over-positive nature of society. What I mean by this is peer groups that support and compliment without necessarily thinking about it, meaning it or even knowing if it's appropriate as they don't have the background information. I see it on a daily basis, particularly in Facebook comments, I also see people fishing for such responses by posting so called cryptic status messages like "Oh no!" or "So unfair", to which the standard replies are, "You ok hun?", "Stay strong", "I don't know what the problem is but I know you're strong enough to get through it" and so on. Every picture has to be greeted with "Stunning", "So handsome/pretty" and the like. The massaging of egos and people's self esteem is endless, many are probably thinking that this can only be a good thing but is it? Firstly, if it's not something you'd say to someone's face then does it really have any meaning when it's said on line? Secondly, people are being so sheltered from the "real world" (if such a thing exists) that perhaps they will not cope when things don't work out and they don't have their gang of cheer leaders to build them up again. Are we creating a race of mentally week people?
Which leads me to the second development, the need to diagnose and label anything and everything. The simple fact is, many of these conditions, real or imagined, can not be treated. The only reason for diagnosis is to allow a label to be attached that either condemns the individual to a lesser life or is used as an excuse, making allowances that will not actually help them to lead a normal life. A classic example of this is ADHD. I don't doubt that there are some genuine cases and they need some kind of treatment but when I look at a good number of cases diagnosed I know for a fact that when I was a kid, I too would have received that diagnosis had it been recognised at the time, and I can't imagine it ever being anything more than a burden for me to carry. I know of one or two cases when people were medicated but when they left school they stopped the medicine and had no problems with their further education, one girl said to me that she just didn't like school and was bored but when she was given the chance to study something she is interested in, it was no problem.....she is now a fully qualified and working chef.
Whatever happened to just getting on with life? When did we become so needy that we need the affirmations and approval of others just to get through the day? Whatever happened to kids being taught by teachers who knew how to control a classroom, how to engage the students (and no, I don't mean corporal punishment, a good teacher doesn't need it) Dare I say it, what ever happened to "pull yourself together"? Which I know is entirely unhelpful for those with genuine mental health issues but for the majority of us that are just having a bad day, it really is the only thing that works. Have we become so interdependent that we struggle to function without the approval of others and if so, what happens when that network is not available, is our society primed for a social crash, like the economic one we experienced and have been paying for since 2007?
Or maybe I'm just heartless?
