Let’s calm the fuck down about mental health

Listen, I know we're all supposed to be woke to the fact that mental health is important and wreaking havoc at epidemic levels, but can we all just calm the fuck down for a minute?

The hysteria and accompanying NOISE generated by everyone who wants a piece of the booming mental health opportunity is reaching an all-time high.

And we as individuals are turning ourselves into a bunch of helpless, dependent, coddled babies who can't handle anything without a therapist and prescription drugs.

Harsh as this may sound, I say it with love and compassion. I’ve suffered and struggled. People I love and have cared for have suffered and struggled.

I’ve also worked across many facets of the industry so I have a solid understanding of the spectrum of mental illness to mental health.

So. I’m writing this because I want to see less suffering in the world and less profiteering from peoples suffering.

Mental health is important and should be taken seriously. But let's not forget that we're resilient creatures.

Humans are wired for survival, and somehow we coped for thousands of years without a vast industry built around treating mental health disorders.

The system designed to help us often has the opposite effect than we desire. It makes us weaker, more helpless and more dependent. And when that course of treatment fails we also become more hopeless and desperate.

We're being told (by the industry and then amplified by the media and social media) that we're broken, disordered, and helpless.

And we’re buying into the lie that we can't withstand, and survive normal life stressors and challenges without a diagnosis and a prescription.

Instead of learning coping mechanisms and dealing with problems head-on, we're taught to run away, hide, and numb ourselves with medication.

We need a little bit of stoicism in our lives right now. We could learn a thing or two from the Ancient Greek philosophers who valued self-control, inner strength, and the ability to handle adversity without crumbling.

Stoicism is all about cultivating a strong mind and will, facing adversity with courage and calmness, and understanding that external circumstances don't define us. It's a reminder that we have the power to choose our perspective and reactions to the difficulties life throws our way.

If anyone’s had CBT based treatment this will sound familiar. You may not realise that it’s not new, but based on Millenia- old wisdom.

We should embrace the challenges, deal with our emotions head-on instead of numbing them, and build the resilience necessary to face them in the future.

Life is never going to be easy or perfect, and a little bit of adversity if handled right and without excessive drama can indeed be an opportunity gif growth.

So let's calm the fuck down, take personal responsibility for our mental health, and cultivate the fortitude to withstand the challenges life may throw our way.

Stoicism could be our guiding light out of the debilitating mindset created by our hyper-emotional world and into a stronger, more self-assured, and empowered future.