Mental Illness – Does it exist?

That’s a very daring question. But I think it is a pertinent one. Read on.

I always respect celebrities and media figures who are brave enough to talk about their mental health issues. Only the seriously naive believe that the lives of the rich and famous are as perfect and easy as they look.

In fact, the kind of driven personality that “makes it” in the backstabbing world of media are quite possibly more prone to depression and anxiety than the rest of us. Research (to which I can’t find the link at the moment, sorry) found that people with  “go-getter” personalities like politicians, entrepreneurs, successful media figures and large-scale criminals share a similar personality type. A much higher than average number of people with this personality type had a harsh childhood often including the death of a parent.

What are the causes of “Mental Illness”?

Recently a BBC story brought us the story of Paul Abbott, a successful screenwriter in the UK (his works include Shameless and Clocking off). He has Bipolar Disorder and reportedly thinks about suicide on a daily basis.

Let me just say that it was very brave of him to speak out like this. I am sure it gives inspiration to other sufferers who may need convincing that they can lead productive fulfilling lives, especially those who have only recently been diagnosed and are at that point where they are horrified and bemused by their diagnosis and what it implies.

What really struck me about the BBC article though was this line:

The dramatist said his life began to unravel after his mother left home and, at the age of 11, he suffered a “brutal” rape.

Let us move away from this particular case about which we don’t have sufficient details. (Also, it’s none of my business!)

Speaking generally:

Can a traumatic childhood cause Bipolar Depression?

Can traumatic events actually cause mental illness? Does an illness have to have a physical or chemical basis? I would argue that trauma can be overcome, even after years have passed, at least to some extent. I would father argue that trauma does not cause mental illness, it has certain symptoms which occur as a perfectly natural response.

That set my mind in motion. It strikes me that a lot of people who are diagnosed with mental illnesses had very difficult upbringings. I must stress, this is not scientific analysis but it seems that again and again I hear of “Schizophrenia” or “Manic Depressives” or people with “Chronic Fatigue” that have head emotionally tough childhoods. I have seldom heard of people from fully functional, “normal”, backgrounds that have gone on to suffer from “mental illness”. To touch once more on the example from the BBC, the loss of a parent and a serious sexual assault strike me as being enough to start anyone off on a spiral of low self-confidence, helplessness, depression, anger and rage.

This is not “illness”. This is a totally understandable and natural reaction to horrendous occurrences. The reaction is in itself awful beyond what most of us can imagine. I don’t want to belittle these problems and these people’s suffering, quite the opposite. I want society to re-assess how we look at and behave towards people who are suffering with non-physically-explainable problems.

I am not suggesting that those who have been diagnosed with the likes of Bipolar Disorder have nothing wrong with them. I am definitely not saying they should just “pull themselves together”. I am just saying that if we see this kind of problem as the result of a troubled childhood rather than as an illness or worse still a permanent condition, maybe we can improve the lot of those who suffer, remove the stigma, and ultimately improve quality of life (dare we use the word “cure”? Certainly “get over”).  

Do these labels serve us or keep us back?

I think labels like “Bipolar” actually keep people down. I think they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think we need to start to ignore these labels and look at each person on a case by case basis. Remember diagnosis is made purely from an assessment of symptoms. It does not follow that those who have the same symptoms have the same condition.

Let’s stop using daft labels. They might help psychiatrists but they don’t help patients much. Mental Illness doesn’t really exist. Natural human reactions exist and we can learn to change and deal with them through various sorts of therapy, drugs.