So this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9sh9INphcU) popped up in my Youtube reccommends yesterday, and I've been mulling over it ever since.
There are a lot of things to digest in this video; but focussing on the first half, the journalist basically claims that a major factor in the currant demand for mental health service is a lack of "resiliance" in modern generations.
This isn't the first time I've heard the word "resiliance" being bandied about in commentary about mental health. The media, government, mental health system, and associated organizations have been throwing this word about an awful lot in the past few years. But what do these people mean by that? Do they even know what they mean?
Most of these groups push the message like crazy that if your struggling with something, you should reach out for help. There are even some people out there still pushing the idea that, if your a male who has a problem and you don't reach out for help with it, then that's your 'toxic masculinity' rearing it's ugly head, making you too proud and independant to acknowledge that you need help.
But now, we're also getting bombarded with these messages that our problem is that we aren't "resiliant" enough; that we shouldn't be reaching out for help, that we should just tough it out on our own and patiently wait for things to get better all by themselves. And, of course, this inevitably leads to a victim-blaming culture where all human suffering is invariably attributed to the victims' inability to endure it with a polite smile. The horrible things that have happened to you - or that ARE happening to you - are fine; the problem is that your being an indecent cry-baby by daring to speak out and say that:
1. Things like that shouldn't be happening.
2. You need help to get out of that situation.
I often wonder if these people can hear their own hypocrasy: "If you have a problem, don't be a tough guy and keep it to yourself! Reach out for help! But also, be resiliant, and soldier on through all your problems without making a fuss!"
I was pleasantly surprised to hear the journalist acknowledge that a whopping proportion of mental illnesses are actually just "circumstantial" - i.e. caused by intollerable life circumstances. And if you fix those terrible real-world situations, the associated mental health problems will more or less be immediately cured.
But what disappointed me was the implication I got that these problems invariably sort themselves out. The classic Aussie "She'll be right" attitude.
When the reality is that, more often then not, people need help to fix these sorts of problems and, if that help doesn't come, the situation will invariably deteriorate until it becomes catastrophic. And unfortunately, this is exactly where our currant mental health system is letting us down the most - it doesn't offer any help with real-life problems that are making the victims depressed, suicidal, anxious, ect.
I really think this would've been an important topic for a news segment like this to shine a spotlight on: we need much more mental health resources to be directed towards solving the real-world problems that are making Australians depressed, suicidal, anxious, ect. , rather than just over-relying on medication without adequate additional supports, or badgering them into "politely coping" with these problems via only one very narrow-minded idea of therapy, when "talk therapies" don't necessarily work for everyone [edited by moderator].
