We have made significant progress in our understanding of mental health. We have increased awareness, there has been a surge in vulnerability and opening up about experiences with mental health, and we’ve seen many take the leap and obtain mental health services.
This is terrific, and so much good has come from this.
However, Freya India wrote on her Substack that perhaps we’ve moved to pathologizing too much. Perhaps we’ve left too little room for nuance and personality.
Freya often talks about the effects of therapy culture, and one of those effects is that we have progressed to labeling and explaining almost every aspect of who we are.
We are no longer organized, and particular; we have OCD.
We are no longer insightful and introspective; we are on the spectrum.
We are no longer goofy and eccentric; we have ADHD.
We are no longer alert and aware; we have anxiety.
Naming aspects of ourselves that persistently and pervasively inhibit our ability to accomplish necessary daily functioning is necessary and helpful. This is where diagnosing is helpful and can lead to healing and understanding.
However, we’ve taken it too far if we allow no room for nuance, personality, and differences to exist. Perhaps there are aspects of yourself that require further exploration to determine if a diagnosis can explain them. Again, this can be incredibly necessary and helpful. However, there’s also a chance that those aspects are what make you uniquely you.
Nuance can be frustrating and overwhelming to comprehend. So, start with asking yourself if the part of you that you pathologize – that you call ADHD, OCD, anxiety, or other diagnoses that you may feel explain you – persistently and pervasively impedes your daily functioning. If the answer is no, then welcome to a part of you that makes you uniquely who you are. Welcome to part of your unique personality.
Warmly,
Kylie Larson, MA, LPC
More resources…
Find Kylie’s reading commendations by clicking here.
