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theaveragejoe
Senior Contributor

Recent Advertisement on TV about 1 in 5

I often watch channell 96, or 9 flix, and lately there is a notice that comes up frequently about the 1 in 5 people having, as they defin it, Mental "Illness" and then they go on to say that they need money for research (people should buy a teeshirt) so that they can find a cure for things like Depression, Anxiety, schizophreni and bipolar disorder.

 

I find this very wrong  on a number of levels. Mental Problems are very complicated and to say that all mental problems  are  an illness is wrong. Moreover to say  that a cure may be found in the near future is to overlook a number of important things. 

 

For example, think of a father that loses his son to a car accident. He becomes depressed. Is this an Illness? And is there a cure in terms of medication because this is what the advertisment was implying. No, it is not a proper illness and it cartainly cannot be fixed just with medication. PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) responds mostly to talk therapy.

 

Or think of this: A woman that is repetedly beaten by her partner. If she remains with that partner no amount of medication will cure her depression or anxiety or stress. She has to get away from that toxic situation and then she may need a therapist. Medication may help her in the short term but the solution, not cure, is to leave her partner and seek a psychologist or someone to talk things over.

 

I was really disappointed that they let such add go on for days and I did lodge a complaint with channell 9 because I thought they were providing misleading information by letting this air. 

 

The WHO (World Health Organization) does not use the word "Illness" when speaking of mental problems.

 

Thank you for reading this

2 REPLIES 2

o Re: Recent Advertisement on TV about 1 in 5

Very interesting post. I struggle to understand how women tolerate toxic relationships, constantly trying to find excuses for the voilent partner.  I guess I am on the other extreme, I never even had the luxury of relationships either good or toxic.  I am struggling just as much as someone who is in a toxic relationship. 

Re: Recent Advertisement on TV about 1 in 5

Thank you very much, @theaveragejoe .Smiley Very Happy Every message like this from the community gives me a small glimmer of hope for the future.

 

You are quite correct, what is often dubbed "mental illness" is really not an illness - or any sort of internal problem at all - but rather a fair & reasonable reaction to unacceptable life circumstances.

 

I can testify to that. I am suicidal; but I am not "mentally ill". I want to die, not because there's some sort of malfunction in my brain, but because my life is appalling: loveless, lonely, uneventful, and no opportunities to do anything good that matters.

 

I was in therapy for 8 years. Because I was miserable about my miserable life, a couple of awful therapists tried to "fix my brain" with medication and cruel mind-warping mind games. But my brain was never defective. My life was the problem. Nobody ever tried to fix my life. That is where I need the help that I've been crying out for for so long.

 

There's a growing amount of talk these days about "psycho-social issues" and "psycho-social supports", and also "wellness support". It's a whole lot of ambiguous words, but my understanding is that they all mean the same thing: services that fix real-life problems as much as possible. Diverting treatment focus away from patients' brains, and towards the factors in their lives that are distressing them.

 

But it seems to still be early days in this new approach, and I'm not sure that these sort of services exist in abundance, yet. Still, there's hope for the future, though... I hope.

 

In any event, thank you once again for recognizing the truth of these matters. Smiley Happy Please continue to spread the word. Those of us who are typically percieved as being "broken brains" need all the understanding and assistance we can get.

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