Mental health - AIBU?

[LibertyLucy1975]

I am torn on this issue.

I’ve had mental issues (off and on) all my adult life. I’m in my mid fifties now.

Many years ago, when I was young, I was sectioned for a brief period due to psychosis. I think people were more likely to be hospitalised back then whereas now, people are just told to see their GP.

Anyhow, when I was released from hospital, I was absolutely terrified of anyone finding out that I’d been in hospital. The stigma of mental health difficulties in the early nineties was strong and the thought of being seen as a ‘nutter’ or ‘mental patient’ made my anxiety ten times worse.

Nowadays it’s very different. Celebrities and social influencers are very outspoken about MH issues and, to some extent, I wish I’d had that level of validation when I was younger. It would have made me feel less like a freak.

However, I do wonder if the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. From listening to my daughter’s friends (teens) talk, you’d think that having MH issues was a right of passage / a badge of honour. Everyone and their dog seems to have some sort of MH issue.

What I think (I suppose this is my AIBU), is that normal human emotions are sometimes labelled anxiety’ or ‘depression’. Many of my daughter’s friends are on medication and I wonder if normal human emotions are now over medicalised.

So what is it? Are people more honest about suffering because there is less stigma? Are more young people suffering? Did people just suffer in silence in the past because they were too ashamed to admit they were suffering and so they weren’t reflected in the statistics?

If it’s just that people are more comfortable talking about their difficulties without the burden of stigma weighing heavy on their shoulders, then that’s a good thing. If it’s that normal life experiences of ups and downs / nervousness / shyness are being considered pathological, doesn’t this trivialise the suffering of people who have genuine difficulties?

I’m not suggesting shame should be part and parcel of struggles but I see so many young people claiming to have MH difficulties that I wonder if it’s genuine. Not so much that they’re pretending, more that they are convinced they have MH issues because they sometimes get a bit down or a bit nervous and a quick google search can leave them feeling as though they’re mentally ill?

I do worry that sometimes kids are led to believe they are ill and that pills are the answer rather than helping them develop the skills to deal with adversity.

I hope I’m not coming across as unsympathetic. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Yes, because the people in that older age range are where the diagnosis of 'MH' for everything began and is now being passed down to another generation.

I grew up in the 90s. I think there was a lot more self medicating with drugs, alcohol etc. I’m not sure people were more mentally well than now.

I think you're right. But I'd also rather live in a world where everyone has degrees of mental ill health than one where you're either sane or mental.

I’ve been sectioned and voluntarily in a mental hospital (2 separate times) in the past 2-3 years and I self harmed then too. Mine was mostly menopause related. I’m fine now and getting better and off meds.

What I will say is the vast majority of people I encountered, some were very ill, even when medicated, some were extremely ill when admitted but far better under medication. Some had “blips” when they were admitted. And then returned to normal life.

I don’t think it’s necessarily a trend of being mentally ill and taking medication I just think there’s far more awareness around mental health now.

I don't really know what I think, but i don't think it's as simple as you describe where younger people are concerned. All the mental ill health I've become aware of is largely as a result of undiagnosed or unmanaged neurodivergence. Dh is a prison officer and he sees this first hand, every day. Self harming women who have never had the right support for them. Even dh himself (adhd) has gone through life effectively self medicating because he always felt like a failure because it just wasn't known about then. Left school with no qualifications, felt thick, nothing stuck properly, persistent and chronic anxiety despite being a confident and outgoing person. He's on meds for anxiety now and it's been a game changer for him. He's in the right job finally after 40 years and loving it (and has never claimed benefits before anyone asks!)

Dd (9) was diagnosed with autism and associated anxiety in March. We've done every kind of non medical intervention you can think of. Her anxiety/ autistic burnout became so bad that she was unable to leave the house. It had a profound impact on our family, and continues to do so as she's not currently attending school. At one stage, camhs actually told us they couldn't offer any more support because she was awaiting neurodevelopmental assessment, and the GP was unable to provide anything either. This was despite suicidal language, agoraphobia, and school non attendance. We didn't know how much longer we'd have to wait for the assessment and things continued to deteriorate.

I'd love to tell you that getting a diagnosis unlocked the door to more support, perhaps a time limited and monitored trial of anxiety medication just to help her re-engage with life again since everything else has failed. But it hasn't. While I'm fully supportive of medication being prescribed carefully and cautiously, particularly for children, I do think there are many ND children in particular who are left to flounder because there's this gap in camhs provision while they wait on lists sometimes for 3 or 4 years. It cannot be right that they are left unsupported with their mental health by virtue simply that they're awaiting assessment. And that even once diagnosed, the response is 'try more of the same', even though you know that crippling anxiety is a by product of a difference in how their brain functions.

You know what I find interesting? There has been a steady , and then quite a sharp jump, increase of children with type 1 diabetes. No one is debating that or asking why, or wondering whether other avenues are available rather than straight to insulin, or maybe they just are a bit dizzy and have an over active bladder rather than actual diabetes and so on.

No one is saying “well I never knew a child with type 1 back in my day, why are there so many now”. And all the other stuff.

No one worries or talks about it really (other than the people directly affected), despite it being a life long, dangerous condition.