An Inaccurate Map of Our Pain

Gabor Maté doesn’t believe in diagnosing people with mental health conditions like depression, anxiety or ADHD. Rather, he focuses on the specific challenges the person is facing in their life and on discovering which traumas animated those challenges.

As a counsellor who is, admittedly, heavily influenced by Maté, I follow these practices in my sessions with my clients too. Counsellors aren’t allowed to diagnose anyway, but we can assess and I will discuss every answer you give me during your assessment to determine which challenges you are facing and if there is any trauma triggering those challenges.

Why can’t a diagnosis fully define the problem we are facing? Why is it an inaccurate map of our pain? Because our brains are historical organs that store our personal stories in the form of chemicals and neural networks. Difficult experiences result in disturbed neurobiology. Mental illness is caused by adverse life experiences. Your experiences are different than mine. My depression doesn’t look or act like your depression. But, we can both work on healing that depression in our own ways, with the help of a wise, empathetic counsellor.

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