AIBU to think we over-pathologise very nomal human behaviour?

[Breakawaygirl]

Other threads have got me thinking about this....

We all know that diagnosis of anxiety, depression, autism and other emotional/mental health/neurological conditions are on the rise.

My question is, is it true that we are just paying more attention to conditions that were swept under the rug, or are we over-diagnosing very natural human behaviour.

I've often thought depression, anxiety and other conditions are very natural reactions to our modern world.

Many people wake up early only to be overworked, fed bad food, underpaid, come home to more work, unable to foster connections with loved ones and children, feel lonely, cut off (no community), big uncertainty in the future, pollution, overpopulation, extinction of animals, little nature in some animals and a very aggressive media that seems to have an agenda - surely to feel bad is NORMAL in these circumstances.

I often think the diagnosis is a way of saying it's the PERSON who has the problem rather than the way we conduct our society/culture as a whole.

That is not to minimise that many conditions are the result of neurology and genetics, but a huge component is nurture and lifestyle.

I've often felt that we live in human zoos and are behaviour and neurosis stems from that.

For instance exercise is a natural anti-depressant but most of us don't get enough.

Anxiety is proven to be exaggerated by social media and the idea that everyone is doing better.

Is it that people individually are sicker, or is society sicker?

Curious for people's thoughts.

My son is on sertraline. I'm so glad the paediatric psychiatrist, a qualified medical professional, didn't consider him any of those erroneous and ignorant adjectives you've assigned to the children you teach. He's got a neurological condition.

Now they are on hard drugs with goodness knows what damage

You have no right to pass judgement on families who choose to medicate their child if that child needs medication.

the now unacceptable terms of slower, idle, boisterous, poorly behaved and so on

You're a dick and, if you are actually a teacher as you claim, I hope you're not teaching at any of my DCs schools.

I disagree with the idea that all behaviour is communication. Being naughty can be fun and brings its own rewards.

Yep MaryMarkle, ex DH was 'naughty' at school. He's a perfectly well adjusted successful adult now with no diagnosis at all. He was just naughty because it was more fun that whatever he was supposed to be doing in class.

Some kids are just naughty.

Totally agree with you OP. Anxiety etc seem to have become a bit of a trend

I can't believe someone said they don't consider being autistic as a disability. If you could see the struggle my son is having because of his autism then you'd reconsider that statement.

As for some of the comments regarding mental health/illness, it's no wonder it's still considered something to be spoken about in hushed whispers.

I can't believe someone said they don't consider being autistic as a disability. If you could see the struggle my son is having because of his autism then you'd reconsider that statement.

There's a name for such ignoramuses and it rhymes with runt.

I think people still had problems in the past. I remember a lot of my mum's friends telling everyone that their 'nerves were terrible'. I assume they had anxiety or depression.

Other factors might be that increased pressure to perform on schools mean that their expectations on pupils are a lot higher. In the past, I think teachers were much more tolerant of disorganised pupils. But they probably had smaller classes, didn't have to deal such a wide spectrum of ability and weren't being monitored all the time.

Now you have to find an excuse for your disorganised child. Although they are probably fairly normal and just not mature and developed enough yet to cope with complex expectations.

I'm sure that many children have been diagnosed as dyslexic and given specific help to help them perform well. I'm sure many parents are very grateful that their child has overcome a learning obstacle and been able to meet their full potential.

I have a cousin, now in his late 50s, who always struggled and was on the radar for difficulties very early on. He never settled at school despite appearing intelligent in some aspects, was always a bit hyper and 'troublesome', had great difficulty finding work (eventually did shifts as a dustman where he settled quite well), could never, ever handle finances, even at the most basic level, and although he married and had a family, the relationship was not a good one. Most recently he became abusive towards his elderly, ill mother who (to be honest) needed more looking after than untrained relatives are generally capable of. As a result he was (rightly) removed from the household and she was removed to a nursing home.

It's a sad story and I wonder if things would have turned out differently if he had had an ASD or ADHD diagnosis, and not been given free rein on an inheritance he didn't really understand. As it is he's a 'black sheep', pretty much cast out of the family.

No, I wasn't suggesting he shouldn't have inherited, just that if he had had a diagnosis he might have been given more intensive help on managing his money (I know severely autistic people who have trusts set up for them and LPAs to manage their finances) and it might also have been flagged up that his particular difficulties made him unsuitable as a carer for my aunt. But NAAPALT obviously - it's not a black and white issue (am I allowed to use the term 'black and white' here any more? )

Some abusive people are autistic in the same way that some abusive people are diabetic or epileptic because disabled people, like all people, are people. But one does not cause or excuse the other.

woolly Classes used to be large in the past. My mum was taught in classes of 60 with 1 teacher and no TA, I was taught in classes of 35, with 1 teacher.
And my "nerves" often referred to anxiety or depression, not uncommon amongst married women. Remember though if that women were in an abusive marriage, it was often impossible to leave. There were refuges, but very few, and no other help at all. I knew one woman who had "nerves" and a very physically violent husband. Police would often be called, and they did nothing except get her to hospital.
Also knew women who had many miscarriages and still births. There was no help at all. In fact nobody spoke about it, it was a taboo subject.
I also know a lot of women who became SAHM after working full time who said they lost a lot of confidence and became anxious. Less women these days give up work totally for many years or even ever, after their first baby is born.
There is actually far more help for people these days struggling with a number of issues such as these.

A wider family member tried to kill themselves twice in the late 70s/early 80s. Both times they were patched up at A&E, a stern-looking doctor asked a few cursory questions before saying words to the effect of "we all get a bit overwhelmed now and then, best way is to buck up and don't do it again" and that was it. No follow up, no consideration of why, and no ongoing support offered. Unsurprisingly they did it again and ended their life.

I'm glad that support is offered now and that mental health is recognised as being equally as important as physical health. I think we still have further to go before the balance is right but in the meantime it's better than the old days.

Even back then there was supposed to be a proper assessment before someone was released. It sounds like the hospital did not do their job properly.
Any follow up though would be a psychiatrist or GP or hospital ward. There really wasn't much else in most places. Although a few places had counselling projects for under 25s funded by youth services.

Op, I thank you for this interesting post. I feel it my duty to stress that ASD is not something that gets thrown about lightly by professionals. Most children are diagnosed by a multi - disciplinary team of medical professionals. It is actually very hard for many children to get a clear diagnosis of anything.

The reason asd diagnosis are on the rise is because of more awareness. Back in the day many with autism would have been diagnosed with something akin to 'global delay', thankfully we now have better understanding and awareness and better outcomes for those individuals who have the correct diagnosis.

Zzzz - Why do you think it is on the rise?

@GallicosCat that's a really sad story and it sounds like he would have benefited from some outside input to help him manage his behaviour.

Zzzz--interesting~thanks for sharing!