David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Me, See a Therapist? Are You Crazy? The Case for Preventative Mental Health Care
By Gordon Shippey
19 August 2010
The same person who visits a dentist regularly, takes their children to the pediatrician for vaccinations, or hires an accountant to help work through the complexities of tax law might resolutely avoid seeing a therapist until the problem becomes critical.
Don?t Wait Until Your House is Already On Fire: The Spectrum of Mental Health
When I watch the evening news, a story that begins ?Firefighters respond to a house fire?? often ends with ??the home was completely destroyed.? On a similar note, I hear therapists say ?I don?t want to work with couples anymore; they come to me when the relationship is already over and they expect me to fix it.? While not every fire or divorce is foreseeable or preventable, our natural tendency to ignore problems until they become critical can be our undoing.
When people think of mental health, they often think of the profoundly or chronically mentally ill. But mental health exists on a spectrum, and there are far more cases of depression and anxiety than of, say, schizophrenia. It is estimated that nearly 50% of the general population will suffer from a diagnosable mental health issue at some time during their lives. That makes it a near-certainty for each of us that either we will experience mental illness ourselves, or it will strike someone we love.
Worse, many of the most common mental disorders can masquerade as the normal ups and downs of everyday life. To the untrained eye, depression can look like sadness, and clinically-significant anxiety can seem like mere jumpiness, but the differences are significant ? as is the level of suffering. Therapy has been shown to be effective against many of the most common mental health complaints, including anxiety and depression. Because mental disorders can be progressive ? they get worse with time ? early intervention can prevent a small problem from turning into a larger one. While some mental health issues may resolve without treatment, it makes little sense to bet on spontaneous recovery when effective treatment is available. And even if relief does come with time, why prolong the agony?
Dentists, Pediatricians, and Accountants ? But Not Therapists
One of the interesting quirks of cognition is that how someone thinks depends greatly on context. The same person who takes great care with their diet may be a reckless driver. Similarly, certain professions are associated with prevention and others are not. Another person who thinks nothing of seeing a dentist twice a year, vaccinating a child, and hiring an accountant to steer clear of a tax audit may avoid getting therapy for emotional issues until or even after a problem has become acute.
Genuine mental illness can look like everyday upset to outsiders and sometimes even to the afflicted. Others may blame the maladaptive behavior and negative emotions of mental disorder on moral inadequacy or a failure of willpower. Such attitudes just increase shame and drive sufferers to hide their problems or try to work through their disorders alone. This is especially sad because one of the best-documented factors associated with relief of symptoms is a strong rapport with a therapist. If mental illness is like a fire, then shame and isolation are powerful accelerants.
Toward Mental Wellness
The concept of ?wellness? ? that being healthy is a goal bigger than just the absence of illness ? has caught on in the realm of physical health. Fitness is a multi-billion-dollar industry promising not just an absence of disease, but energy, strength, flexibility, and attractiveness. Millions of people who have never had a heart attack are monitoring their cholesterol, modifying their diets, and taking cholesterol-controlling drugs in the hopes of heading off a heart attack before it happens. How much pain could we avoid if we cared for our minds the way we cared for our bodies?
The Positive Psychology movement is on the forefront of ?wellness? as a mental health concept. Positive Psychology advocates moving beyond the absence of mental disorders into states of being that could be described with words like ?serenity?, ?resilience?, ?happiness?, and ?grace?. While these states may be enjoyable in and of themselves, there is also research to support the idea that learning to direct our minds in positive ways can actually prevent conditions like anxiety and depression.
Last Lecture
You may know Professor Randy Pausch because of his ?Last Lecture? video that became an Interent sensation. Though stricken with terminal pancreatic cancer, he took the time to collect what he learned and experienced in his life and turn it into a presentation that resonated with viewers worldwide. While it was his medical condition that drew attention, the Last Lecture wasn?t about Pausch?s death but his incredibly rich and achievement-filled life. He could not have given the talk if he had not done outstanding work taking care of himself long before his illness surfaced. And once his terminal state was known, he drew on deep inner reserves to face the end with humor and grace.
Like Pausch before he learned of his diagnosis, we don?t usually know whether our lives will be long or short, easy or difficult. How well we meet our challenges depends on the resources we carry into a crisis. Some of my favorite clients come to me not with active mental illness, but with a desire to improve their mental health, their relationships, and their professional development. Instead of aiming to ?just get by? or feel ?OK?, wouldn?t it make more sense to optimize both our physical and mental health so that we can enjoy or lives, achieve more, and be ready for whatever challenges life may throw our way?
By Gordon Shippey
19 August 2010
The same person who visits a dentist regularly, takes their children to the pediatrician for vaccinations, or hires an accountant to help work through the complexities of tax law might resolutely avoid seeing a therapist until the problem becomes critical.
Don?t Wait Until Your House is Already On Fire: The Spectrum of Mental Health
When I watch the evening news, a story that begins ?Firefighters respond to a house fire?? often ends with ??the home was completely destroyed.? On a similar note, I hear therapists say ?I don?t want to work with couples anymore; they come to me when the relationship is already over and they expect me to fix it.? While not every fire or divorce is foreseeable or preventable, our natural tendency to ignore problems until they become critical can be our undoing.
When people think of mental health, they often think of the profoundly or chronically mentally ill. But mental health exists on a spectrum, and there are far more cases of depression and anxiety than of, say, schizophrenia. It is estimated that nearly 50% of the general population will suffer from a diagnosable mental health issue at some time during their lives. That makes it a near-certainty for each of us that either we will experience mental illness ourselves, or it will strike someone we love.
Worse, many of the most common mental disorders can masquerade as the normal ups and downs of everyday life. To the untrained eye, depression can look like sadness, and clinically-significant anxiety can seem like mere jumpiness, but the differences are significant ? as is the level of suffering. Therapy has been shown to be effective against many of the most common mental health complaints, including anxiety and depression. Because mental disorders can be progressive ? they get worse with time ? early intervention can prevent a small problem from turning into a larger one. While some mental health issues may resolve without treatment, it makes little sense to bet on spontaneous recovery when effective treatment is available. And even if relief does come with time, why prolong the agony?
Dentists, Pediatricians, and Accountants ? But Not Therapists
One of the interesting quirks of cognition is that how someone thinks depends greatly on context. The same person who takes great care with their diet may be a reckless driver. Similarly, certain professions are associated with prevention and others are not. Another person who thinks nothing of seeing a dentist twice a year, vaccinating a child, and hiring an accountant to steer clear of a tax audit may avoid getting therapy for emotional issues until or even after a problem has become acute.
Genuine mental illness can look like everyday upset to outsiders and sometimes even to the afflicted. Others may blame the maladaptive behavior and negative emotions of mental disorder on moral inadequacy or a failure of willpower. Such attitudes just increase shame and drive sufferers to hide their problems or try to work through their disorders alone. This is especially sad because one of the best-documented factors associated with relief of symptoms is a strong rapport with a therapist. If mental illness is like a fire, then shame and isolation are powerful accelerants.
Toward Mental Wellness
The concept of ?wellness? ? that being healthy is a goal bigger than just the absence of illness ? has caught on in the realm of physical health. Fitness is a multi-billion-dollar industry promising not just an absence of disease, but energy, strength, flexibility, and attractiveness. Millions of people who have never had a heart attack are monitoring their cholesterol, modifying their diets, and taking cholesterol-controlling drugs in the hopes of heading off a heart attack before it happens. How much pain could we avoid if we cared for our minds the way we cared for our bodies?
The Positive Psychology movement is on the forefront of ?wellness? as a mental health concept. Positive Psychology advocates moving beyond the absence of mental disorders into states of being that could be described with words like ?serenity?, ?resilience?, ?happiness?, and ?grace?. While these states may be enjoyable in and of themselves, there is also research to support the idea that learning to direct our minds in positive ways can actually prevent conditions like anxiety and depression.
Last Lecture
You may know Professor Randy Pausch because of his ?Last Lecture? video that became an Interent sensation. Though stricken with terminal pancreatic cancer, he took the time to collect what he learned and experienced in his life and turn it into a presentation that resonated with viewers worldwide. While it was his medical condition that drew attention, the Last Lecture wasn?t about Pausch?s death but his incredibly rich and achievement-filled life. He could not have given the talk if he had not done outstanding work taking care of himself long before his illness surfaced. And once his terminal state was known, he drew on deep inner reserves to face the end with humor and grace.
Like Pausch before he learned of his diagnosis, we don?t usually know whether our lives will be long or short, easy or difficult. How well we meet our challenges depends on the resources we carry into a crisis. Some of my favorite clients come to me not with active mental illness, but with a desire to improve their mental health, their relationships, and their professional development. Instead of aiming to ?just get by? or feel ?OK?, wouldn?t it make more sense to optimize both our physical and mental health so that we can enjoy or lives, achieve more, and be ready for whatever challenges life may throw our way?
