MadInAmerica.com | They have been told that mental illnesses are caused by chemical imbalances, genetic anomalies and brain disorders, that they are not different from diabetes, cancer or acid reflux. They have been told not to be ashamed of such conditions; after all, they have no control over them and they should not be objects of stigma for having them. They have been told that an appropriate response is to take pills that will make them feel better. During their lifetime, the number of Americans using psychotropic drugs has increased dramatically.
Millenials are the victims of a belief system which is cynical, harmful and erroneous. If you believe that how you feel and behave is controlled by biochemistry, genetic dynamics and brain anomalies, you believe that you have no control over your thoughts, emotions, intentions, reactions and behavior. That’s pretty cynical.
There are at least two ways in which the BBS is harmful. First, if you subscribe to it you are likely to see those scary, painful, troubling feelings as being alien and worthless; all you want to do is get rid of them quickly. In doing so you miss an opportunity to learn some valuable lessons from those uncomfortable feelings: what you want and don’t want, what you are afraid of, what threatens you, what is vitally important to you, why you do what you do and don’t do what you don’t do. Second, you are unlikely to enthusiastically and wholeheartedly pursue some form of psychotherapy. That is harmful because psychotherapy writ large is far and away the best way of responding to the states of being that become diagnosed as mental illness. Read Entire Article
By Al Galves, PhD
