[sinecure]

A childhood friend of mine developed schizophrenia at 25, so I am surely convinced of the existence of true mental illness. To me a mental illness is defined as a clear defect in the workings of the brain, such that you have uncontrollable hallucinations and mania. I am not as familiar with bipolar disorder, but my overall argument is not that mental illness is non-existent, it's that depression is either vastly over-diagnosed or should not be categorized in the same group as schizophrenia and the like. Where is the line between "I've abused my brain with the comforts and overstimulation of modernity and now I am not happy" with "I was born to be sad because I'm genetically broken"?

In the end psychology is just too political and too lacking in scientific rigor to handle these questions. the DSM is essentially a politically motivated group of academics voting on what is or isn't a mental illness. At one point homosexuality was a mental illness, seen as a deviance in brain function leading to the end of reproduction. But the political tides changed and now it is no longer classified that way. How can we drug people for a lifetime based on the changing tide of academic bureaucrats who vote on what is or isn't normal? Is it too cynical to believe that the pharmaceutical companies making massive profit off of the mental health drug industry are not backing the psychologists making DSM decisions?

A kid comes in saying he's depressed all the time. They ask him what's wrong, why he is unhappy? He complains about feeling sad all the time without reason. They give him anti-depressants. But what about the fact that he plays video games all day, watches porn constantly, is on booze and weed and stimulants, is constantly browsing novel media on his smartphone, constantly entertained with netflix, he's blasted with supernormal stimuli 24/7 and then wonder's why his brain chemistry is out of whack... yet the mental health industry would rather see him drugged up on profit making anti-depressants rather than struggle through the years of effort and therapy to change his lifestyle.