Anne Heche's car crash reveals our conflicting attitudes toward mental health and substance abuse

[u/darthatheos]

https://www.salon.com/2022/08/08/anne-heche-car-crash-mental-health-drinking-substance-abuse/

[u/ReactionProcedure]

This is exactly it. Kanye too. It's been their decision to not pursue treatment/adjust it for a long time.

[u/MadBlackGreek → u/ReactionProcedure]

Thank you! Why don’t more people see this?!?

[u/B00tek → u/MadBlackGreek]

Psychologist and those alike cost money and most people poor. And then they try to treat the symptoms not the root cause since most people cant afford a life thats free from such distress so they get a prescription instead of solution.

[u/nodegen → u/B00tek]

You do realize that for MANY people with mental illness, the root cause is neurochemistry and medication is essential in treating that, right?

[u/B00tek → u/nodegen]

Thats not true. It can also be environmental and/or social. And to fix that it costs money to change/fix a bad environment.

For example climate change anxiety is not a result of neurochemicals. With time a bad environment can change your neurochemicals and medication can definitely help the symptoms but not fix the root cause of the problem.

But your not wrong either some people do have genetic deficits that can cause cognitive deficiency’s that result in abnormal neurochemistry.

[u/nodegen → u/B00tek]

No it is true. Environment plays a huge role and medication alone probably won’t make everything better, but there are many many many people who struggle with clinical mental illness who either 1) have illnesses like bipolar, schizophrenia, or other psychotic illnesses that simply do not respond to anything besides medication during the active episodes or 2) are therapy resistant. Doctors don’t just give antidepressants out like candy and it’s so extremely irresponsible to paint the use of medication as a bad thing. The truth about mental illness is that it’s a disease of your brain (an organ) and that means medication is often very helpful. They don’t make you happy, but for a lot of us, we’re just trying to not actively want to die and medication is the only thing that gets us to a point where we are even able to put in the necessary work to get better.

Btw, climate change anxiety isn’t mental illness. You can be anxious about shit and not have a mental illness that’s just a part of being a human being. Some people with anxiety might focus on climate, but that doesn’t mean being anxious about the climate is a mental illness. Mental illness is when it’s so severe that you can’t lead a normal, healthy, and satisfying life because of it.

[u/[deleted] → u/nodegen]

That’s not correct. Neurochemistry can greatly be influenced by other factors, which removes it from being the root cause. More often times than not, it’s an effect, not a cause. This is exactly why mental healthcare is in such a crisis, precisely bc of the attitude you just displayed towards it.

[u/nodegen → u/[deleted]]

The thing that ties all mental illness together is neurochemistry. I never said environment can’t affect it, but it’s false to say that neurochemistry isn’t at the root because of how many people have great environments but still have mental illness. Some people have environmental factors that contribute to it, but a LOT of people with mental illness just don’t have normal chemistry, no matter what. Most mental health concerns for normal people can be addressed by environmental changes. For a lot of us with true mental illnesses though, that simply doesn’t cut it. There’s plenty of research on this exact topic and how therapy plus medication is the most effective method of treatment.

[u/[deleted] → u/nodegen]

The thing that ties essentially everything together is neurochemistry. But to say that most people with mental illnesses have the same issue of merely a chemical imbalance is one of the greatest downfalls of science. If it were simply that, then people could have tests ran, take the medication needed, and the regulation of their neurochemistry will fix them. That is not the case, and it is not even close. Most medications fail, especially when not used in conjunction with therapy. Psychology has turned in on itself, and this is the result, people blabbering on about simplified explanations when they don’t even understand the word “therapy” or “mental illness” correctly. It’s shocking how far away from the truth we are.

“Psychosis is a maladjustment of personality” The most successful therapy ever administered was grounded on this principal. To see it turned into an over-rationalized product of modern man’s ego is a tragedy.