To think the term "mental health" has become meaningless

[Floatyboat]

This crisis has lead to an epidemic of concern about "mental health". This new "mental health" is not what people used to refer to by the term. Rather than illnesses such as depression, psychosis or anorexia people are now referring to something closer to "emotional wellbeing" or "feeling good".

The object of concern has also changed. It used to be worried about other people's mental health, particularly people we care about. Now people typically use the term whilst referring to their own "mental wellbeing".

Mental health problems have rightly come some way in being destigmatized. A byproduct of that is that the term has been co-opted by people describing their own desires and emotions as if it gets them a free pass on the responsibilities others face.

People don't tend to say I do x because it's good for my "physical health" , they're more specific, eg to lose weight, reduce chance of cancer, avoid covid19 etc. But people just seem happy to use this ill defined "mental health"in such a way.

It has also become unfashionable to specify the degree of "mental health" problem. As if some mild worry or inner tension is the same as something which destroys your life. We don't often classify viral sore throat and throat cancer together. Why do we lump mental health problems all together in the same boat?

Am I being unreasonable to ask you to think twice about using the term "mental health" and try to avoid the erasure of people with severe and debilitating problems. Being more specific can only be a good thing.

In my experience, when you’re in a depressive episode sometimes it’s harder to think rationally, and your brain can trick you into thinking everyone’s lives seeming ‘normal’, happy and content when in reality we have no idea what goes on behind closed doors. I sometimes find social media leaves me feeling so much worse (we all know it’s an artificial snapshot of someone’s life but I still find it hard to rationalise this at times)

Also with regards to physical health, my friend has had cancer and she may briefly mention if it came up in conversation e.g. to explain why she had to take a career break, but she’s not going to go into detail about her experience with cancer as it’s personal/tmi. (Unless she were talking to someone who had the same experience) Same with mental health issues really

I agree. and also see it applied to situations where feelings just need to be dealt with as part of normal grown up life. Like being worried or anxious before a job interview is not a mental health issue. It's a situation where one experiences certain emotions, deals with them and moves on.
I had a very young employee who I had to spend a lot of time with because she kept saying that we need to talk things through, because they are causing her mental health issues. Reality was that she sucked at her job and when pointed out what needs to be re-done she hid behind this wall of "I'm perfect, but you are causing me MH problems". This part is what annoys me.
MH should be taken seriously, but should not be used as a safety blanket.

I had a very young employee who I had to spend a lot of time with because she kept saying that we need to talk things through, because they are causing her mental health issues. Reality was that she sucked at her job and when pointed out what needs to be re-done she hid behind this wall of "I'm perfect, but you are causing me MH problems". This part is what annoys me. MH should be taken seriously, but should not be used as a safety blanket.

If she really claimed she was “perfect” and then blamed you for causing her mental health issues, I can agree that it was badly phrased and accusatory of her. However, it is entirely possible that work can exacerbate mental health issues? She didn’t take the best approach yes, but it does sadden me that this is the reality of how some employers may be thinking, especially when some claim to be part of the disability confident scheme

If you have a mental health condition / disability, it’s such a hard decision to know whether you should disclose or not. Employers can have as many bs diversity quotas, disability schemes they like but sadly you can still end up with a line manager who will think it’s just an excuse

I agree also ditto anxiety. People use the term anxiety when they are talking about small stresses in life. I do worry about the resilience of especially young people, my teen throws words like depression and anxiety around far too easily.
I definitely feel like mental health has been diluted.

I agree with you OP.

However one irk. We all have mental health.
I hate it when I'm asked, Oh do you have mental health? Huh! Pardon?

But I totally agree. Whilst mental health illnesses are becoming more common, we are seeing a rise in social well being being promoted - excellent - but do not confuse the terms.

Hnrtft

@Cheeeeislifenow

I agree also ditto anxiety. People use the term anxiety when they are talking about small stresses in life. I do worry about the resilience of especially young people, my teen throws words like depression and anxiety around far too easily. I definitely feel like mental health has been diluted.

I agree with this to some extent. I have a close friend (who pre covid I spent a lot of time with). She is saying her 7 year old DD suffers with anxiety because she gets worried before her fortnightly injection. That's not anxiety. That's normal surely? And I know the girl very very well. She's never shown any sign of anxiety, other than what I would expect from a child of her age. But I guess there could be something I haven't seen.

I have a friend who "has ocd" because she likes her house clean and tidy. Only she doesnt. If shes tired/ill then the hoovering gets left for a day or 2. OCD can't be ignored like that. Unless you're Craig on Corrie.

But having said that, and as an ex mental health support worker who now suffers terribly with poor mental health, I'm so glad society are talking about it more. Now, instead of saying I'm off work sick, I say I'm off due to my poor mental health. People might then shy away, or change the topic but its stopped them asking if I have cancer .
The downside is that now every other person is an 'expert'. If I had £1 for everyone who told me that going for a long daily walk helped their mental health I could pay for private therapy to try and sort mine. (Sadly I get physical symptoms from my anxiety - last time I met a friend for lunch somewhere not on my usual 'safe list' I shit myself the second I got home having held it in the whole way home. So a 'long walk' is not the safest idea)

I have just finished a course where I am the oldest in the class 😔 everyone has had to do presentations, they all panicked and talked at length about their anxiety. How their anxiety stops them doing things like presentations. But as we were chatting more they hadn't seen a doctor, its all self diagnosed. I think they confuse anxiety as a verb as in being anxious, with anxiety as an actual illness. They all have ocd because they prefer to write in blue pen, apparently. One girl said she had depression because her BF broke up with her.
To me those are all normal feelings and not medical diagnosis'.

I agree its so overused now that anytime I hear someone say it, I just think its an excuse.
We all have bad days. We all have things we dont like to do. We all have situations that make us sad. But having a bad day at work is not a mental illness. Not liking hard work is not a mental illness. Ending a relationship is not a mental illness.

If we discuss the small stuff it could stop someone escalating into something more serious.

This.

Ok people might say they are depressed when they really mean just a bit down, unhappy but the important thing is people talk, esp men.
One of the leading causing of death in men under 45 is suicide.

But to stop people using the term mental health is wrong.
Many many people will be suffering from MH issues just now, loneliness, fear, money worries etc. To tell people they can't say they're MH is suffering is like telling someone who's feeling miserable with a cold that they aren't I'll as they haven't seen a hospital consultant to diagnose it

@ZombieFan

I agree its so overused now that anytime I hear someone say it, I just think its an excuse. We all have bad days. We all have things we dont like to do. We all have situations that make us sad. But having a bad day at work is not a mental illness. Not liking hard work is not a mental illness. Ending a relationship is not a mental illness.

This is another downside to it being so widely discussed now. Some people clearly don't believe me when I tell them about my mental health because so many people are saying it, some of whom really are mentally unwell and some who are just having a bad day/week/month.

So many things in everyday life affect our mental health. A relationship breakup will affect your mental health. A stressful day at work will affect your mental health. But they are (normally) relatively short term and don't mean you have a mental illness. The problem is that people confuse the two.

Totally agree, people should maybe use the term emotional health to describe the natural highs and lows and stressors of life. And leave mental health as a term for formal diagnosis of mental issues. just my opinion though, as with many things it can get overused and the value or impact or meaning becomes diluted.

Why dont people say, I am feeling a bit sad today, or a bit upset right now, or I hate doing that. We dont need to medicalise normal emotions. Mental illness needs to only be used for genuinely mentally ill people.

Its also making things worse for young people who think they are mentally ill because they are not learning to deal with real emotions. Its all being swept up in the, 'its not your fault you feel upset today its your mental health'.

Mental illness needs to only be used for genuinely mentally ill people.

The term being used is Mental Health, not illness, Mental Health can be good as well as poor.
Where is the line between being a bit down and being depressed?
Its probably the same as the line between cold and flu, unless you've had flu you wouldn't know, but that doesn't mean a bad cold doesn't make you ill. And being really down isn't good either.

Men especially are taught from a young age not to cry, man up, be supportive, don't be a woose. Anything that breaks down those barriers to get men to talk and seek help has to be a good thing.

Just now in lockdown, people are struggling with being cut off from friends. So many people I talk to with primary school kids who are struggling to get them out the door. What would you describe that as other than mental health problems?

I don't think people say "I am mentally ill" or "I have a mental illness" if they're just feeling a bit down though, do they? Neither are young people being told they are actually mentally ill just because they are feeling overwhelmed.

Using 'mentally ill/mental illness' to refer to diagnosably mentally ill people, but using 'mental health' to refer to the state of people's mental (from good to bad) seems unproblematic to me, much as general 'health' can be good or bad, but 'ill' means ill!

Its all being swept up in the, 'its not your fault you feel upset today its your mental health'.

Are you suggesting it is their fault?

People use the term anxiety when they are talking about small stresses in life.

That's because that is one of the meanings of the word 'anxiety' (which btw is not a verb). The word 'anxiety' means the state of being anxious. It is also a diagnosable condition.

OP, two weeks ago I threw a milkshake around a room because I was so stressed about work. Yesterday I flaked on a call because I'd already been in some for 3.5h straight and was feeling jittery, underprepared and nervous. I struggled to sleep last night because my heart was thumping.

No, I don't have a diagnosed condition. But I'm so glad my CEO is supportive of us in this crisis and is very firm about my not putting myself through more than I can handle. He knows that in good health I do cracking work, and he'd rather that was the case.

Good point thecatsthecats. Caring about everybody's mental health may help avoid some of them ending up at the diagnosable end of the scale. Just as looking after people's physical health (e.g. through diet, lifestyle and exercise) will help reduce cancer, heart problems and diabetes.

@noseresearch
*I had bad social anxiety, and one confident outspoken colleague was saying she was “scared of talking to people”, “I always have to use the self scanner” and “I refuse to open the door to the delivery guy my bf does it” etc

As I was extremely quiet at work compared to her, I remember feeling like how could someone so loud have social anxiety. But then, how could I invalidate her feelings? She very well may have experienced anxiety in some situations, but be able to control her symptoms to appear ‘normal’ in other situations.*

I have agoraphobia, in times when I'm not managing it well, I wouldn't answer the door, I would use the self scanner etc. (although personally supermarkets themselves I've always been comfortable in, but not other shops) but even at those times I could perform at work, and was almost certainly loud and outspoken, no-one would've needed to solicit my opinion if I wanted to give it.

For me, it's because the rules and expectations in the work situation are so well understood by me, that I don't have to think about what is happening - also perhaps I am of course thinking about the work too.

So I can completely understand your colleagues experience, I fear that like me she's been seriously harmed by the lockdown, as the continued practice of visiting the places and doing the things that are hard are gone - I don't even need to open the door to the delivery bod any more.

On the general topic - Mental Health is a good term, it's just like Physical Health, or just Health as that is used. Mental Illness, Mental Disorder etc. are all there when you need them, just like Sick, Ill, Unwell etc. for physical health, but that doesn't invalidate that I'm eating vegetables and going for a run for my health.

@sirsirfredgeorge thanks for sharing your experience!

This is another downside to it being so widely discussed now. Some people clearly don't believe me when I tell them about my mental health because so many people are saying it, some of whom really are mentally unwell and some who are just having a bad day/week/month.

But how do you know who is genuinely mentally unwell vs just having a bad week? It’s unfair to judge as we don’t know their full story/ what happens behind closed doors.

I know some pp’s who claim that some people are lying about have mental health issues have used trivial examples such as being anxious for a job interview, but you still don’t know their full story. They’re probably only telling you the socially acceptable symptoms of their anxiety

Don’t want to sound like a broken record quoting her again but @Smallsteps88 post (page 1) is so well written

^I just think it’s unfair for some people who have been diagnosed to scoff at others and think along the lines of “they clearly don’t have a clue what real anxiety is , it’s normal to be anxious for job interviews” - but you still don’t know their full story! Also, there is a chance that some people could think you are lying - how would you like your feelings to be invalidated?

Even if there are people who are just attention seeking and lying about mental illness, I’m pretty sure they’re a tiny minority.
I’d much rather wrongly believe a few people, than ignore others who genuinely are struggling
Also, as I said earlier it’s this “you couldn’t possibly have a mental illness, pull yourself together” attitude that is putting people off from seeking help and getting diagnosed.
I remember feeling so sick with fear in the waiting room before seeing the Dr, as I was so used to thinking people had it much worse - would I be laughed at etc

But how do you know who is genuinely mentally unwell vs just having a bad week? It’s unfair to judge as we don’t know their full story/ what happens behind closed doors.

Of course, you can't without further info. But doesn't the ubiquity of the term make this more of a problem. If someone wrote on here at the height of lockdown they were going out 3 times per day for their "mental health" lots of people thought they were being dramatic/self-absorbed. When in reality nobody can know what the case is with any individual person. If they mean "feel better" then say that. If they mean something else, then say that.

But how do you know who is genuinely mentally unwell vs just having a bad week? It’s unfair to judge as we don’t know their full story/ what happens behind closed doors.

That was the point I was making. My post which you quoted was a reply to a PP saying they think it's an excuse when people say they have mental health issues. You can't automatically disbelieve someone because you don't (probably) know what's happening for them.

So sorry I misinterpreted your post @PorpentiaScamander haha
Gosh I sounded as bad as mansplainers just rephrasing someone else’s point! Anyway, I see where you’re coming from now

But how do you know who is genuinely mentally unwell vs just having a bad week? It’s unfair to judge as we don’t know their full story/ what happens behind closed doors.

What difference does it actually make to the family / friends at that precise moment in time?

If a family member calls you and says they need food but have a bug / heavy cold / broken leg their needs at that precise moment in time all little different to someone else who has a much more serious long term issue.