To think that "mental health/illness awareness" is bollocks

[clink02]

Before anyone reads the title wrong, I believe that it's incredibly important to bring awareness. What I mean by bollocks is that society gives the impression that it cares about mental health but it's only restricted to depression and anxiety.

My friend is a therapist and when talking to her, she doesn’t believe in ADHD but believes in other mental illnesses/neurodevelopmental disorders. It’s a sentiment that’s echoed by many people in society but I was shocked that a mental health professional refused to believe it.

I also have a cousin who became schizophrenic during her time in college and all her friends slowly drifted away from her. These would be the same people that posted “Mental Health Matters” on their Facebook page.

I agree. In fact, I think the entire public discourse of mental health/illness gets nowhere near the reality of it. My thoughts, formed by a lifetime of experience of other people's very serious mental health problems and multiple suicides:

– Living with someone else's mental illness is extremely hard. There's little to no recognition of this.

– We are told constantly that we must all 'talk about' mental health and that we could help prevent someone from killing themselves. But when someone does kill themselves, "there's nothing you could have done". Ok, so which one is it? (I'm NOT saying we shouldn't reach out to people but there's a real contradiction here.)

– I believe a lot of mental health issues are exacerbated or even caused by alcohol and/or drug use but we act like mental health issues just happen to people randomly. If you're already depressed, drinking is going to make it a hell of a lot worse.

– 'Mental health awareness' is generally LinkedIn-esque bollocks pushed by people who are functioning pretty well (eg have ADHD but also have plush, well-paid job in advertising, social circles and decent lives) and the ugly, messy, chaotic reality of serious mental health issues gets ignored, because it's not nearly as photogenic.

There was a mental health awareness session run at my work and it was run by someone high up however as far as I know she has no training in such issues. The next day there were quite a few people absent as it had apparently been quite traumatic for them as it covered issues of bullying etc. They even sent out an email about the issue with helplines etc as it’d been brought to their attention.

I think these issues shouldn’t be treated lightly and actually bringing them up at work and schools can cause issues.

There was a case I read about where children who had been severely abused in the past were asked to talk about what makes them sad and assess their mental health at school as part of mental health awareness. Their guardian said it was quite difficult for them to deal with such sessions as really they didn’t need someone unqualified to get the children to talk about such issues.

So yes these sessions are more suited to minor mental health issues like work stress etc and not something more serious.

You only have to look at the online responses to reports of people killing or hurting others while in an acute psychotic state to see that a huge number of people just don’t understand that kind of mental illness. ‘He must have known what he was doing’, ‘I’ve had mental health issues but I still know right from wrong’ etc. They don’t understand, and they don’t want to change their views either.

The whole discourse about poor mental health is like so much in life these days - superficial and virtue-signalling.

The sickly sweet platitudes by MH charities/helplines/ raising awareness/Letters of Hope: "You will get through this".

Some people don't. Some people choose to end their lives, some people suffer horribly throughout.

So don't give me that bullshit. You are just evidencing how little you know and how poor you're understanding is. Or you are too cowardly to say it.

Every time I read this sort of thing I wonder what the hell is wrong with me that I'm not getting better like apparently everyone else is🙁

ADHD isn't a mental illness. Mental illness and neurodiversity are two completely different things. Mental illness's such as anxiety are commonly comorbid though.

I think there are probably many. many people who are diagnosed with ADHD that are suffering with trauma though. Childhood trauma can alter the brain and cause ADHD like symptoms. I also think a lot of care needs to be taken that excessive use of screens/poor diet and poor sleep are not misdiagnosed as ADHD.

People are comfortable with anxiety and depression, they can understand them. It's much harder to understand schizophrenia or psychosis or to know how to treat and be around people with severe mental health issues. I don't believe companies with 'mental health awareness days' care at all though, they're just box ticking exercises to make them look good.

In the workplace 'mental health awareness' is tick box bollocks. The ones needing support rarely get it, they are either viewed as difficult or try to struggle through and get viewed as doing ok as they are masking. Having bills to pay makes people plod on regardless..until they can't.

Unfortunately it's bollocks. People just about understand depression and anxiety, but there's hardly any understanding for those of us who live with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, OCD, bipolar etc.

I have schizoaffective disorder and I've been on the receiving end of a lot of stigma / misinformation about my condition. It's common to hear 'psychotic' being used as a description of awful, unacceptable and unpleasant behaviour. People also think I might be dangerous, despite the fact that I'm more at risk of harming myself than anyone else. The idea of mental health awareness is a good one, the reality is far from it.

What does it mean to not believe in ADHD in this context? Diagnostics of this sort of thing are based on rapidly changing psychological theories; a well-informed person might very plausibly have good reasons for thinking the current classification is wrong, which isn't the same as thinking people diagnosed with ADHD don't have problems.

As an analogy: many places won't diagnose Asperger's disorder anymore, in a sense they don't believe Asperger's exists. But that's because of progression in the science, not arbitrary prejudice.

It's the corporate world's self-congratulatory "let's talk about mental health" strategies that tick me off. No, I don't believe you care. No, I don't believe my colleagues actually want to hear what I'm experiencing and no, I don't feel like sharing it.

One thing I saw recently that infuriated me was a hoodie someone was selling on social media that said on the back something like, "Dear person behind me, you are loved and special and the world is a better place with you in it". And people who have clearly never been severely depressed or in a negative psychotic episode were clapping themselves and each other for buying this thing. They felt they were actually doing something, and were so bloody pleased with themselves.

They clearly have NO IDEA what sort of impact that facile, stupid statement could have on someone. It's more likely to tip someone over the edge than bring them back from it. Utterly self-serving virtue signalling ignorant sh1t.

I think mental health and emotional wellbeing are muddled together, particularly in the messages coming from schools.

children and teenagers need to understand that grief, sadness, worry and fear are normal
emotions, and part of the human experience rather than something to pathologise. In extremes, they’re not, but we are drawing the line in the wrong place, and not focussing help where it will make the most difference

And while I'm on my soapbox, yes - people equating 'psychotic' with 'violent'. Or STILL thinking that schizophrenia means having a 'split personality'.

Where's the awareness of that? Or is it not as photogenic as a sad person going for a walk and a coffee with a friend and feeling all better now?

Same here, my psychology degree was in 1990 and this is what I learned and what I believe

But OP what you say in your OP is not that straight forward. People can care about MH issues and the emotional wellbeing of me, you, society etc etc

But that doesnt mean one wants to be around behaviour that is unpleasant, chaotic, frightening, intimidating, uncomfortable. No one is obliged to be friends with or around or exposed to that. That doesnt mean a person doesnt have sympthy for the patient/colleague/room mate/relative, they can recognise that their friend or whoever needs better support (and that may not exisit in reality, there isnt a 'fix' for a lot of MH disorders) but it doesnt mean they also want to be surrounded with it

I think this is where the narrative has turned inaccurate, when people talk about 'being their true self' and being accepted and people should accept this or that. Actually people dont have to. If you are rude, awkward, anti social, you interrupt, you make noises around me that annoy me and distress me etc etc, I dont have to accept that actually, I dont want to be around it.

I don’t like the term mental health. Like it’s a special sort of “not the normal kind” of health.

The brain is an organ, the endocrine system is …. potentially more than one organ, since it’s a system and my biology O level memories are failing me.

We know SOME malfunctioning organs cause depression, anxiety, suicidality and a host of other things classified as mental health.

Like the stupid irresponsible thyroid. Which likes to break and turn people into their best impression of a very sad slug that is trying not to cry in case it accidentally dissolves itself.

Nobody has yet explained to me convincingly which organs or brain structure are largely responsible for my ADHD.

My ovaries are in the dog house for going menopausal and trying have me kill me in the process.

Brain health. Thyroid Health. And some sort of deep dive into somatic conditions cos “it’s all in your head” isn’t that helpful unless you can tell me which bit I need amputated to stop parts of my body hurting cos my brain is apparently malfunctioning.

Fed up with this “mental” health cop out instead of admitting we know the bloody moon better than the jellied eel like organ pootling about in our skull being all mysteriously unexplored.

PS
If you are told to do yoga for your “mental” health, but find it ouchy and don’t enjoy being made to roll on the floor you haven’t hoovered for a while… try Tai Chi. Just as “be like water” mediationy sort of vibe. But no floor and no ouch. Well not so far. I’ll get back to you when I eventually fall over due to zoning out during the golden rooster bit.

Yes, the world seems to be silent about attachment styles and disorders these days and how early experiences shape our brain development and hardwire responses and reactions.

Lol, think the crisis team are a fan of this!

Why don't you try ringing a friend?
No thank you, they would not understand.

Have a hot drink!
Ahhh, got it, that will make the voices go away.

Paint your nails?
That's not going to cut it

What about holding ice in your hands
Errr. Why?

Severe mental illness is certainly not photogenic. It's having awful breath becuase you haven't eaten for days. It's getting lost for two hours in a familiar area because you are so confused. It's bending over backwards to avoid your family guessing. It's waking up to find an AMHP and three burly police officers in the bedroom.

But it's OK, because LinkedIn is encouraging people to say "How are you REALLY doing?" (Head tilt). Fuck off. I dont know you enough to tell you. Why the fuck do you think you have the right to invade my mind like that? Is it the green ribbon on your lapel that have you the right?

I’ve never heard it articulated quite like this, but I actually really like this sentiment.

I do think we’ve lost the ability to feel sad and particularly worried without pathologising it.

I'm tired of people banging on about ND. I don't deny it exists, such as autism, but too many bang on about being ND and it grates on me. Firstly, they often think that whatever symptoms they have don't occur in anyone else when this is total BS. Secondly, too often these labels are used as an excuse and no introspection takes place.

I come with a ton of childhood trauma and have had extensive therapy. I'm a completely different person from when I started. It takes lifelong commitment but most importantly it means taking responsibility for yourself. If I took a label of ND I probably wouldn't have put in the work. I have become a healthier person for myself and others.

Very few people seem to genuinely recover from their illness in the long run.

@applegingermint in 25 years as a therapist I have seen people recover, but there are lots of reasons that they might not.

Talking Therapies services have been fucked up beyond repair and other services starved of funds. And I think the concept of 'recover' is an interesting one - some problems are conducive to being a one time thing - others are underlying vulnerabilities which may pop up at times of more stress. If you have a tendency to chest infections, you would not say your previous treatments had not worked if you got another one, you would just get further treatment.

@DareMe - you make some really good points about peoples attitudes to therapy.

First you get the usual cohort of people who want an easy fix and dont want to have put forth any effort or who have secondary gains from staying as they are. Secondly a lot of people were trained very quickly (a lot of nurses for some reason) many of whom were more motivated by getting a more senior banded job than being a good therapist. So there is a lot of poor CBT out there. And third, the services for people with more severe problems who required longer term help or whose problems did not lend themselves to CBT were cut to the bone. And they brought in a 'recovery' model to excuse not offering services to people who years before would have had lifelong support because of their severe and enduring mental health problems.

@clink02 As for your original post, I would be flabbergasted by a therapist who 'did not believe' in ADHD per se. I would, however, not be surprised by a therapist sitting with a client and not believing their report that they have it. I often find myself in the situation where people are claiming ND to justify bad behaviour or demand adjustments. At the start of my career I was more often identifying and supporting people to recognize and understand their ND and MH diagnoses. Now I see increasing numbers of people reporting that normal traits, responses and difficulties must be evidence of a disorder.

I agree completely with this. I think there is an erroneous belief amongst many that society has the capacity to devote significant resources to so many people that apparently need external support with their mental health. I don't even mean just in financial terms but also in terms of time and the capacity of family, friends and professionals to actually properly devote the mental, emotional and physical energy required to truly make a difference. Apparently a quarter of women experience a common mental health problem in any given week. We need to be realistic about what people can expect from others and the state.

We also need to normalise the fact that it's rare to have perfect or even very good mental health in the same way that most people will have some physical health ailment or condition that they are nursing. To an extent you really do have to just battle on and self manage as best as you can. That is 'normal' even if it's not optimal and it's not realistic to expect society to prioritise relatively minor issues. There simply isn't the capacity to do this.

@themerchentofvenus yes spending on the services may have increased, but we need to go ‘upstream’ the things that make us more resilient to mental health problems, like youth clubs and decent housing and happy teachers at schools amd not being stressed about paying for food etc etc have been defunded. Therefore human suffering and mental health gets worse as a knock on effect.

I think that these products are worn by people
who are empathising with and validating themselves, rather than considering others.

I am sure you were probably anticipating this response but here goes!

As a parent of a son with ADHD ( genuine issue) it definitely exists and you may want to check out research which shows how the brain actually changes due to this neuro diverse condtion. From my vast experience of this condition, i think the normality of many children/ people - rather the ability to mask their symptoms belies a genuine daily struggle to process things which do come very naturally to other people. Nevertheless i do agree there are far too many people jumping on the bandwagon generally which does a diservice to those people who are really really struggling with these various mental health conditions or neurod diverse issues

well said!

It hasnt really though - I know this is the line given by governments, but when the funding increased, it was because who new types of services were being developed for types of mental health that would not have been treated previously. If you look at the funding given to the types of MH service that have been around for longer, it has been cut, cut and cut again as commissioners raid MH budgets to prop up physical health services.

And even in the newer services, like Talking Therapies, the funding has effectively been cut. NHS England state a course of treatment should cost about £1300. Most places are allocating far less than this, with the result people are getting sub-therapeutic levels of treatment - some counties will only pay half as much for treatment.

And that is without the decimation of social services, so that a lot of people with what someone upthread called shit life syndrome are coming in to MH treatment when what they need is social support. And I already mentioned the 'recovery' model which is just an excuse not to offer further support - even to people who have SMI who will need lifelong support.

Add in a pandemic and generally awful world conditions, and you have a real shit show.

100% agree with you. Another example is severe OCD, I've never seen an awareness campaign about how to talk to someone who has intrusive images that they might stab all their coworkers so they compulsively repeat strange safe phrases to themselves or count all the sharp objects in the kitchen etc.