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suggestion | 6 months ago

There isn't one because a sprained ankle is a binary diagnosis.

One of the biggest problems with psychiatry is that every diagnosis is a spectrum, and over time it's become more and more obvious that the boundaries for what is considered "neurotypical" are way too narrow.

Depression being a chemical imbalance was a complete lie to sell more medication, and how prolific this type of occurrence is within the industry is not hard to see.

At the very least, a plurality of phycological diagnoses are manifestations of physical behavior: diet, exercise, exposure to sunlight, etc

We're so overprescribed on medications to try to feel a certain way within far too narrow of a spectrum.

Why do you presume that there has to be an equivalent to a sprained ankle? Maybe the answer to your question is yes, only the catastrophic is worth addressing.

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/jo...

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KPGv2|6 months ago

> only the catastrophic is worth addressing

This is a very privileged view of the mind. I have ADHD (and autism). But I also have a quite high IQ, if one cares about such things. I'm pretty successful, professionally.

But it took until around 40yo to get the ADHD diagnosis and get a prescription for medication that has been life-altering. Was I suffering from catastrophic failures? Absolutely not: married, have kids, in the 1%, etc.

But have the meds had an incredibly positive influence on my life? Hell yes. I can do things that everyone else acted like was normal, but I straight up couldn't do it before. Housework is a prime example. It was like torture. Sitting around waiting for people to finish their sentences because they're "talking as slow as molasses" made for often unenjoyable social experiences.

But with the meds, this stuff is either tolerable or fun. My life is significantly better thanks to medical interventions. Instead of my wife blowing up because I didn't do something like mop the kitchen floor, I actually get it done (without meds I straight up cannot hold that kind of task in my mind if I'm not in the room looking at the mess; I will flit between ten other things in a different part of the house, then walk through the kitchen to get into my car to pick up the kids, see the kitchen, and think "ah, fuck me")

I'm happy that you're neurotypical and have a great life, but that's not true for a lot of us, and the idea that "only catastrophic mental issues should be dealt with by professionals" is you just telling on yourself and your ignorances.

birn559|6 months ago

I stopped using house work as example because people always answer "oh yeah, I also dislike housework". People just don't get it when this example is used. I switched to "not able to go outside for a walk even though I like being in nature" and "often not able to follow or participate in long talks with multiple persons".

There also is a good chance I don't have children because just being alive and by myself was super exhausting before I got diagnosed in my late 30. Having children was unthinkable until then.

But was it catastrophic? I don't know. I finished college except it took two times as long and got a job where I of course suffered pretty much the whole time.

But that was all very normal for me, just the way I was, at least that's what I used to believe.

jay_kyburz|6 months ago

Hold on.. did you just say there is a drug I can take that will making talking to people less boring and doing housework fun?

suggestion|6 months ago

Why do you presume I'm neurotypical and undiagnosed with any psychiatric disorder? I'm formally diagnosed with severe OCD, depression, and ADHD. I was on SSRI, then SNRI and additionally methylphenidate for years. Eventually I got tired for feeling like a shell of a human being, and weaned off of the SNRI. It took a lot of effort to induce neuroplasticity and ease my OCD and depression, but I did it. Eventually, I weaned off the methylphenidate because I believed I could do it if I tried. Later in life, I also gained and eventually lost weight, which was a similar acceptance that "bad" things, like hunger, are ok and a symptom of something good, my body consuming fat. Then the same for sore muscles at the gym. Over time, I accepted discomfort and the fight or flight my brain was constantly trying to force onto me was a lie, and eventually my brain and nervous system caught up. My physical and mental health improved, my social life, my professional life, etc.

I bet if you knew your house would burn down if you didn't do "normal" things you would have done them no problem.

Stimulants make otherwise unenjoyable things enjoyable? Who would have thought? Do you think people that do "normal" things enjoy them? Is it necessary to enjoy everything all the time?

ben_sisko|6 months ago

“Chemical imbalance” lol.

You have inadvertently outed yourself as not having a clue by your reply. It’s nothing personal but you just clearly don’t have a clue and/or don’t have skin in the game.

It’s fine. I don’t know anything about professional juggling because I have zero skin in that game.

Paging Dr. Brochacho: fMRI and brain networks have been around for a while!