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The case for eliminating the concept of ‘mental health’
The Spectator ^ | March 2, 2024 | Theodore Dalrymple

Posted on 03/23/2024 6:06:23 AM PDT by Twotone

The concept of mental health is a hypochondriac’s, narcissist’s, shirker’s and social security fraud’s charter: for who can prove that someone does not so feel depressed, anxious or grief-stricken that he is unable to work? Who can distinguish between “can’t,” “won’t” and “would rather not”?

Unfortunately, mental health has come to mean any deviance from a state of perfect equanimity and satisfaction

Fragile mental health, and especially mental health issues, are said to be preventing large numbers of young people from working, with British people in their early twenties now more likely to be out of work than people in their early forties as a result. One even hears people nowadays say that “I’ve got mental health” — not meaning something positive but negative. Mental health means something bad, something incapacitating.

Those with mental health issues, or just plain mental health, can get by economically without working. This is a powerful cause, I would guess, of considerable psychological unease, for even now most people do not like to feel useless to others. The frauds among them, of course, are delighted to be paid to do nothing, especially if they can supplement their income on the side.

But the difference between the genuine cases and the fraudulent, insofar as the genuine cases really do experience wretchedness of one kind or another, is not absolutely categorical. If you play a part long enough, after all, it is what you become: habit changes character.

What is mental health? The only definition I can think of is the absence of outright lunacy. Unfortunately, it has come to mean any deviance from a state of perfect equanimity and satisfaction.

(Excerpt) Read more at thespectator.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: mentalhealth
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To: Twotone

I had my children just last night tell me that nearly everyone they know has ADHD or mental health issues!

I was SHOCKED


21 posted on 03/23/2024 6:47:45 AM PDT by TexasFreeper2009
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To: Twotone

As long as you have a grip on reality, in my opinion, you are mentally healthy.

That does not necessarily mean happy. It is not normal to be happy after something terrible has happened. We should not expect to be so. We should acknowledge reality and deal with it forthrightly, seeking help and support when needed.


22 posted on 03/23/2024 7:42:17 AM PDT by Persevero (You cannot comply your way out of tyranny. )
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To: ClearCase_guy

The solution is a faithful life in Christ. Rich or poor.


23 posted on 03/23/2024 7:44:09 AM PDT by Persevero (You cannot comply your way out of tyranny. )
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To: The Louiswu

Same experience here. My team of 8 is now all male; even though we have different opinions and approaches, there is absolutely no drama or friction. We can easily focus and work out any problems.

I have participated in countless video calls and seen exactly 1 male with his pronouns next to his name. Including all the females who add their pronouns, I have seen exactly 0 instances where it was not plainly obvious what they were. Hmmm...


24 posted on 03/23/2024 7:44:11 AM PDT by Señor Presidente (Tyranny deserves insurrection)
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To: Twotone
What is mental health? The only definition I can think of is the absence of outright lunacy.

Lunacy. Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

25 posted on 03/23/2024 7:51:53 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Roses are red, Violets are blue, I love being on the government watch list, along with all of you.)
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To: Señor Presidente

In general, Men like to be with other Men. Particularly if engaged in some worthy pursuit, like hunting, battle, or some work project (esp. construction). We also tend to get along better with each other than women do with other women, and we keep each other in line (”Don’t be a dick!”). One of my many theories is that we get along bettor because we have to: Needless confrontation can lead to a real fight, and real fights between men can and do lead to death. Getting along is thus a survival skill. Juxtapose this with the female of the species. Just my observations/theories, worth less than two cents.


26 posted on 03/23/2024 8:03:02 AM PDT by drwoof
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To: Twotone
To abandon the concept of mental health is the same as abandoning the concept of physical health.

If more than half the population suffered from, say, bubonic plague, one could argue that bubonic plague is "perfectly normal".

This is the case today, when a large percentage of the population suffers from mental illness, and the proposed solution is to declare "mental health" nonexistent and, it obviously follows, that "mental illness" is nonexistent.

Many American psychiatrists abandoned the concept of mental health when they declared that homosexuality is not an illness. It is. It results from a lesion that interferes with the reproductive system.

The "woke" mentality that is destroying America and the American People is certainly a "mental illness". To deny this changes nothing.

27 posted on 03/23/2024 8:31:34 AM PDT by Savage Beast (Pray for the Enlightenment of the Democrats.)
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To: DIRTYSECRET
You should have found a better shrink. Your judgment, if sound, helps separate the morons from the geniuses.

Obviously my judgment is excellent:

When I was 18, I was suicidal. I went to a shrink. My mother was apoplectic with horror and embarrassment. So was everyone she knew.

I didn't give a damn. Screw 'em all! I knew what was best. Maybe I'm just smart.

I stayed the course.

He was a wonderful, wise man. He wanted to help me. He did. He told me to get a job after school to pay him. I did. He turned me around completely. It was one of the wisest decisions I ever made. I will always revere this man.

Tomorrow I will be 85 years old. I have been married to the same fabulous woman for 64 years, have two wonderful children and four wonderful grandchildren. I made enough money to retire at age 53. I lived in wealth and plenty ever since, travelled the world, speak 3 languages, studied and learned continuously--have the life I wish everyone could have!

And one of the smartest decisions I ever made was going to a psychiatrist, figuring out what a wise man he was, and placing my trust in him.

28 posted on 03/23/2024 8:47:06 AM PDT by Savage Beast (Pray for the Enlightenment of the Democrats.)
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To: srmanuel
"...and you create a generation of mindless idiots"

Absolutely you do. What you create is a generation of people who are mentally ill--and then deny that there's any such thing.

29 posted on 03/23/2024 8:48:41 AM PDT by Savage Beast (Pray for the Enlightenment of the Democrats.)
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To: Twotone

BS! The term has been polluted by the commie trash psychologists (except for JPeterson) saying that things like tranny are no longer indicators of mental illness. Ditto with pedo.


30 posted on 03/23/2024 8:50:51 AM PDT by bobbo666 (Baizuo, )
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To: Qwapisking
One of my best friends from childhood was mentally ill. It didn't become clear until he was around 18 years old.

He married a wonderful woman, and they had a child.

The wife was wise enough to go with him to a shrink. He told her to expect nothing from her husband and to do whatever was necessary to take care of herself and her child.

She divorced him.

He spent the rest of his life in the nuthouse.

She did okay.

31 posted on 03/23/2024 8:53:09 AM PDT by Savage Beast (Pray for the Enlightenment of the Democrats.)
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To: Savage Beast

People that don’t think mental illness, or depression, or anxiety disorders either never had them. And those that recovered from them KNOW how it’s a disorder and that you were not thinking right. Things that you thought made sense, that all your relatives would celebrate you dying and to be done with you instead of mourning and it ruining them are mental disorders.

This is near scientology type nonsense that there’s no chemical or emotional brain diseases. Hell, I’ve heard some people flat out say Schizophrenia doesn’t exist and they just need a good talking to.

Mental disorders do not justify evil actions, but shaming people for them and saying ‘just get over’ is almost as bad.


32 posted on 03/23/2024 8:53:55 AM PDT by BoyKip
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To: aynrandfreak
'Reminds me of how they “solved” illegal immigration by banning the term."'

That is a brilliant observation, ARF!

Absolutely brilliant and spot on!

It is exactly the same thing.

33 posted on 03/23/2024 8:56:17 AM PDT by Savage Beast (Pray for the Enlightenment of the Democrats.)
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To: ryderann
"A swift kick in the seat of the pants straightens out a person’s thinking quicker than any pill or analysis."

That solves a lot of problems, all right.

But in my case, it was my mother who needed the kick in the pants (so did my father, but helped me by graciously departing this life).

I gave her one and got the hell out of there.

The shrink helped me find the clarity.

I recovered from my mental illness and had a wonderful, fabulous life full of love, joy, happiness, and mental health (sorry Dalrymple, it does exist).

34 posted on 03/23/2024 9:01:42 AM PDT by Savage Beast (Pray for the Enlightenment of the Democrats.)
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To: Twotone

“I think counseling (& maybe psychiatry) attracts people who already have ‘issues’.”

And a surprising number of those who are trained in that field go on to become nutty sadistic H. R. Directors. (IMHO)


35 posted on 03/23/2024 9:02:40 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam (Fraud vitiates everything." - SCOTUS)
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To: Savage Beast

Good for you! I’m proud of you.


36 posted on 03/23/2024 9:06:22 AM PDT by ryderann
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To: ryderann

*You should have found a better shrink.*
Think of a foster child going from home to home. Get old-doesn’t help.

*If humans are paid for nothing and have to produce nothing, they will lose all meaning and drift rapidly into a state of mass insanity.* Retirement is that slippery slope. I’d blame-partially-Social Security.

*Personally, I wish I were Amish. But that wouldn’t work for everyone* That’s because resentment builds as others move ahead.

*A swift kick in the seat of the pants straightens out a person’s thinking quicker than any pill or analysis.* Not for women. I’d give them shelter and treatment. The men? You got that right.


37 posted on 03/23/2024 9:19:30 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: Twotone

I’ve always thought of depression as just feeling sorry for yourself. And it seems to be much more common among leftists than conservatives.


38 posted on 03/23/2024 10:05:53 AM PDT by AlaskaErik (There are three kinds of rats: Rats, Damned Rats, and DemocRats.)
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To: Twotone

people have to recognize OK... is OK!!!

it’s not a binary, euphoria or depression


39 posted on 03/23/2024 10:29:18 AM PDT by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
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To: The Louiswu
Sounds like where I work. About a third of all the administrators in the hospital I work in are women. A lot of them have ''issues''.
40 posted on 03/23/2024 10:35:23 AM PDT by jmacusa (Liberals. Too stupid to be idiots.)
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