Around the turn of the century, there was a story on NPR about counseling, and insurance coverage for psychiatric services.
As is common, they started with a specific case and a specific person, because they felt that this would provide a reference point for the listeners.
In this case, it was a high power executive who was spending 15-20 days a month away from home, and hated it, and so needed counseling to deal with this.
I remember shouting at the radio (I shout a lot while driving, I inherited that trait from my Dad), "You don't need counseling, you need a different job!"
This is not what is typically done in the United States. I am not sure if this is a conceit of the profession, that is that they see themselves as being able to work everything out, or because the economic incentives make the practitioners disinclined to provide a permanent, or at least durable, solution which requires no additional treatment.
You choose.
In any case, Dan Nelson has made a similar observation, though it is focused at general issues with societies more than the specific example above:
Human behavior is shaped by a complex interplay of life’s events, conditions, and circumstances. To truly understand a person’s actions and behaviors, one must ask: What was this person exposed to? What did they experience? These questions point to a profound truth: behavior cannot be separated from the environment in which it develops. From the safety of one’s surroundings to access to proper nutrition, sleep, and social stability, the circumstances of life have a lasting biochemical effect on the brain. These experiences are not merely coincidental with development, they actively shape it.
………
Yet, it seems natural to us today, in a society shaped over a mere few hundred years, to assume we know better than nature itself. When we make aspects of nature illegal, we may be damaging humanity in ways we cannot fully grasp. Likewise, when we sever people from the natural rhythms and connections to their natural environment, we risk causing problems that remain beyond our understanding.
Yet, modern psychiatry operates as though behavior can be neatly categorized, diagnosed, and treated without this deeper understanding and consideration of the biological, social, environmental, circumstantial evidence and events that need to be understood unless they want to sell snake oil remedies. Psychiatric diagnoses, rooted in observable patterns of behavior, are often presented as authoritative conclusions.
His conclusion, that treating mental illness without recognizing the effects of an ill society, is a valid point.
It's a good read. So read it.
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