Like, why do mental conditions exist?
And is there anything else besides physical and mental conditions?
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Well, part is constructed. Part is biological differences in an immense system. Part is because of things akin to scars from really bad experiences. The DSM, a very large encyclopedia basically, lists and describes systems of all mental illnesses/exceptionalities. That said, to have mental disorder there has to be mental order. So some mental illness can be described as deviations from what a society generally agrees is the norm. We can also observe chemical differences or other biological reasons. Some brains don’t make as much dopamine as others, for example. However? This can also be caused by things like using substance for coping with trauma or childhood traumatic experiences. Or other traumatic events like war. So the answer is a complex set of reasons. Our bodies and brains are all imperfect and beautiful things that don’t all work the same and don’t work the same their entire lifespan. So the result is mental deviations and illnesses in a variety of forms.
Well, part is constructed. Part is biological differences in an immense system. Part is because of things akin to scars from really bad experiences. The DSM, a very large encyclopedia basically, lists and describes systems of all mental illnesses/exceptionalities. That said, to have mental disorder there has to be mental order. So some mental illness can be described as deviations from what a society generally agrees is the norm. We can also observe chemical differences or other biological reasons. Some brains don’t make as much dopamine as others, for example. However? This can also be caused by things like using substance for coping with trauma or childhood traumatic experiences. Or other traumatic events like war. So the answer is a complex set of reasons. Our bodies and brains are all imperfect and beautiful things that don’t all work the same and don’t work the same their entire lifespan. So the result is mental deviations and illnesses in a variety of forms.
Every organ in the body goes wrong sometimes.
We aren’t surprised when someone has heart problems or their lungs don’t work right or their liver fails or whatever else. We know the body isn’t a perfect machine and that things go wrong for no particular reason.
But for some reason when the brain doesn’t work right we’re surprised, or we assume it’s somehow that person’s fault. We shouldn’t be. The brain is by far the most complicated organ we have, so of course a lot of things can go wrong. It’s a mess of electrical signals and chemicals and of course signals can misfire or chemicals can end up unbalanced or they interact with the environment in a weird way.
We should stop thinking of mental conditions as entirely separate from physical, they’re not.
Every organ in the body goes wrong sometimes.
We aren’t surprised when someone has heart problems or their lungs don’t work right or their liver fails or whatever else. We know the body isn’t a perfect machine and that things go wrong for no particular reason.
But for some reason when the brain doesn’t work right we’re surprised, or we assume it’s somehow that person’s fault. We shouldn’t be. The brain is by far the most complicated organ we have, so of course a lot of things can go wrong. It’s a mess of electrical signals and chemicals and of course signals can misfire or chemicals can end up unbalanced or they interact with the environment in a weird way.
We should stop thinking of mental conditions as entirely separate from physical, they’re not.
Every organ in the body goes wrong sometimes.
We aren’t surprised when someone has heart problems or their lungs don’t work right or their liver fails or whatever else. We know the body isn’t a perfect machine and that things go wrong for no particular reason.
But for some reason when the brain doesn’t work right we’re surprised, or we assume it’s somehow that person’s fault. We shouldn’t be. The brain is by far the most complicated organ we have, so of course a lot of things can go wrong. It’s a mess of electrical signals and chemicals and of course signals can misfire or chemicals can end up unbalanced or they interact with the environment in a weird way.
We should stop thinking of mental conditions as entirely separate from physical, they’re not.
Mental disorders come in three categories:
Aging disorders, like Alzheimer’s or dementia, are the result of a person’s brain breaking down over time. It’s the brain equivalent of old people having stiff joints.
Trauma disorders, like PTSD and similar disorders, are the brain’s overresponse to stressors. It’s the brain equivalent of scarring or autoimmune diseases; protecting a person from things that aren’t there (either ever, or any more).
Social disorders, like ADHD or Autism, are things that used to be good for some people to have; but don’t work in modern society. They’re the brain equivalent of wisdom teeth – they used to be good, are sometimes still good; but are more likely to cause problems than be useful.
Mental disorders come in three categories:
Aging disorders, like Alzheimer’s or dementia, are the result of a person’s brain breaking down over time. It’s the brain equivalent of old people having stiff joints.
Trauma disorders, like PTSD and similar disorders, are the brain’s overresponse to stressors. It’s the brain equivalent of scarring or autoimmune diseases; protecting a person from things that aren’t there (either ever, or any more).
Social disorders, like ADHD or Autism, are things that used to be good for some people to have; but don’t work in modern society. They’re the brain equivalent of wisdom teeth – they used to be good, are sometimes still good; but are more likely to cause problems than be useful.
Mental disorders come in three categories:
Aging disorders, like Alzheimer’s or dementia, are the result of a person’s brain breaking down over time. It’s the brain equivalent of old people having stiff joints.
Trauma disorders, like PTSD and similar disorders, are the brain’s overresponse to stressors. It’s the brain equivalent of scarring or autoimmune diseases; protecting a person from things that aren’t there (either ever, or any more).
Social disorders, like ADHD or Autism, are things that used to be good for some people to have; but don’t work in modern society. They’re the brain equivalent of wisdom teeth – they used to be good, are sometimes still good; but are more likely to cause problems than be useful.
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