The overdiagnosed society: we are all mentally ill

Does psychiatry have a certain eagerness to diagnose everyone with some condition?

Pedro is a totally healthy and normal person.

In defiance of the current state of uncertainty, he faces life with hope and good cheer. This attitude gives him a harmony between impetus and prudence, allowing him to fulfill himself professionally and to combine it well with his personal and emotional sphere.

They enjoy good sexual and emotional activity with their partner. They know how to reconcile the common space with the independent space of each member of the couple and there is no disagreement or conflict with the children because they have been able to create a stability between a good organization and affection.

The consequence of this concordance is that, when the couple, as parents, must expose the fulfillment of some guideline to their children, always in a reflexive way, these children receive it with affection towards their parents.

These children are very well integrated academically, enjoying excellent relationships with both teachers and classmates who are also their friends.

Psychiatrized society - Pharmacologized psychiatry

Interpersonal relationships are a priority for Pedro. He enjoys a large number of friendships and a very collaborative relationship within the family. With it, if necessary, he could obtain shelter and comfort in the bad moments but he never needed it. He is a dynamic person: he practices group sports, oriental relaxation and cultural activities frequently.

With this outlook on life, Pedro does not know what it is like to be sad or angry, everything has gone according to plan. He has never experienced phobic or psychopathic situations and enjoys a solid serenity of mind.

Pursuing an ideal that does not exist

You have probably noticed that Pedro's story is unreal and utopian. You might also think that there is something strange behind this reverie or that it is an ephemeral situation.

Nevertheless, at present, any profile that does not match this any profile that does not match this perfect parameter could be labeled as abnormal.. If our friend Pedro diverged from this sublime pattern, even for a short period of time, he would be at risk of being ruled psychopathic and treated with drugs.

According to recent studies, 50% of the U.S. population could be diagnosed with a mental disorder.

What is psychopathology?

To be honest, all of us have some thought, at some point, that could be considered psychopathological. The point is that our behavior, thinking and way of feeling is under the watchful eye of many eyes eager to find something pathological in us.

So much so, that this fact has led to the paradox of "the abnormal normal" in many studies of this type, to the point that, surprisingly, there are more individuals with psychological problems than healthy ones, there are more individuals with psychological problems than healthy ones.It could therefore be argued that those classified as "healthy" suffer from an adaptive syndrome.

The dilemma: the patient or the drug?

According to some experts, many diagnoses are more a product of consumerist and labeling voracity. labeling of our society rather than a true biological malady. In the treatment of suffering, it is essential to know how to differentiate between clinical pathology and that which is produced by an agglutination of psychosocial circumstances; treating the latter as a pathology is, to say the least, highly debatable.

Thus, the simple fact of assigning a word to define the theoretical "disease" afflicting a patient only stigmatizes him or her. Unfortunately, it seems that the escalation of diagnoses grows and grows, one would say that, at this rate, in a few decades, the planet will be a huge phrenopathic.

You could be addicted

Modern life evolves by creating new uses and tools: internet, gambling, video game machines, etc. The misuse or abuse of these elements can turn us into addicts.

But some authoritative voices have already spoken out in the sense that we overgeneralize when it comes to diagnosing a simple behavioral disorder as if it were an drug addiction.

There is talk of vigorexia, sex addiction, compulsive shopping..., where is the line between what we choose as a diversion and what would be an addiction, according to some therapists, labeling simple "hobbies" as pathological has, in principle, undesirable results.

To begin with, classifying these people as sick is basically counterproductive as it stigmatizes and weakens their self-esteem and thus their ability to overcome their problem, and that self-esteem is fundamental to successful therapy.

A burning example of this is the increase in the diagnosis of adhd (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), with a diagnosis rate in developed countries of around 25% in children, when those of us who work in this field know that a prevalence of over 5% is already doubtful, in addition to the harm caused to a person who, due to his age, is subject to continuous changes in his psychological evolution.

Overdiagnosis in current psychiatry

Unfortunately, as in so many areas of life, once this apparent mystery of why our society is overdiagnosed with psychiatry has been seriously analyzed, we find a disturbing answer: money.

The relationship between overdiagnosis and the appearance of drugs to cure them is an evidence that no one disputes anymore. It is true that professionals tend to schematize the patient in order to be able to approach an agile and accurate analysis of the situation, but from there to, for example, "taming" a child with high activity (something inherent to that age) with medication to avoid discomfort, there is a long way to go. And this example can be extended to other categories mentioned above.

Finally, we must be aware of our limitations in perception: it has been demonstrated that we apply a few concrete and simple labels. As soon as someone fits us into one of them, the disturbing effect of a self-fulfilling prophecy is produced. self-fulfilling prophecyThis obviously does not help, but it is even worse when the commercial factor distorts and conditions us in the enormous mission of helping others.