No Measurable Physical Markers

If you suffer from depression, anxiety or other mental distress and you have tried going to doctors for a diagnosis, you’ve learned that there are no measurable physical markers of your problem. No blood tests, biopsies, x-rays or scans will support a diagnosis. The only proof of your malady that you can offer a doctor is subjective, i.e. your description of the problem and perhaps some behavioral anecdotes about sleep patterns, appetite, etc. In order to understand illnesses like this, the medical and psychiatric professions have developed the term “mental illness”. This term has become a convenient place to park distresses that cannot be diagnosed physically. Mental illness isn’t an objective term. In fact, it can be downright dangerous.

The danger I’m referring to is the stigma society attaches to vulnerability and being different than other people and Lord knows, when you’re depressed or anxious, you feel very vulnerable and different.

My favourite question to people who are hesitant to seek help for a mental illness because of the stigma attached to the mental illness label is, “would you go for a walk on a broken leg before you had a cast put on it? If not, then why are you trying to live a ‘normal’ life while you’re carrying an overwhelming burden of mental illness?”

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