Mental health is a funny thing. It varies depending on culture and language. There are all these mental disorders in the Western world. I think other cultures have their own version of what poor mental health looks like.
Inevitably, there is a breakdown in functioning. Here in the US, a patient may stop their meds, withdraw, abuse drugs and alcohol, attempt suicide. Maybe they even stop going to work or school. Depression comes about not just because we’re persistently sad. Our bodies may be sick or riddled with disease. Or we’ve lost our home or job. In a capitalist, hypertech society, maybe there is a lot more to lose, and once you lose it, nearly impossible to get it back.
It’s probably both. A mix of environmental and genetic factors. Your zip code determines your health, your access to capital, your education, and your future prospects. But our lineage will see us stricken with diseases of the mind and body given to us through our genes. I think there was some bipolar and depression in my family histories.
PTSD and borderline seem to come about from trauma. That is the current consensus. Borderline makes it ridiculously hard to trust or engage in relationships. I know I have really struggled with this. I worked really hard in DBT therapy to try and move past some of the maladaptive coping behaviors. I wasn’t completely successful but I’m better than I was. I opened up a lot more. Mainly to people I know, but then I would tell new coworkers and other recently met people about my book, if the subject somehow came up, and then they were interested in reading it. I have some author copies at home and they want me to bring in a few.
Don’t know the point of this post. Just that I’m trying to make sense of, and come to terms with, some things.
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