Op 7: Psychology or Judgment

Disclaimer: Certain parts ofthis article have been exaggerated for humor purposes.

Once upon a time man’s life was simple, it was either eat or be eaten. When man was not busy chasing animals or being chased by animals, he was busy making tools that would make the chase shorter. Today, man is no longer chased by animals, and in devolved countries, most people do not worry about where their next meal is coming from. This leaves lots of time for thinking, and while thinking has produced antibiotics and the i-pad, it has also produced loneliness, anxiety, and depression. The way modern society deals with these ailments (when medication, hot baths, and vodka has ceased to work) is therapy.

Therapy is for people who have over bearing or emotionally unavailable parents, bad behaving children, flirty husbands, annoying siblings, unappreciative friends, evil bosses, and a fear of car accidents and death. Not only does a person get to complain about all these ailments to a trained professional, the therapist also comes up with a strategy to help a person with their problems. They will tell the person their feelings are valid, and then they will proceed to tell that same person how they need to think, talk, and feel if they want to be a healthy adult. They will explain to the person what type of boundaries they need to set with the people around them, and how they need to converse with these same people. After choosing to follow the instructions that the therapist provides (therapists don’t give advice), a person is considered normal, healthy, and happy. If the person is still unhappy after leading a normal and healthy life, well then the person obviously has a chemical imbalance, and he/she needs to take advantage of all the anti-depression medication available.

If a person chooses to ignore the instructions of therapists, and instead decides to remain happy with their unhealthy boundaries and dysfunctional relationships, their friends, neighbors, and random people they talk to in the grocery line, will tell them they are living their life the wrong way. People have always been judgmental, and this will never change, but now people’s judgment is laced with quotes of professionals who have spent 5-10 years studying human interaction. After all, if someone has a PhD in psychology, they are not giving you an opinion about how to live your life, they are telling you the correct way to live your life (that is the correct way if you don’t want to be a failure as a human being). If you fight every day with your husband (even if you are happy with your marriage), or if your friend calls you twice a day (even if you enjoy talking to them), you need to be “cured”. It doesn’t matter if your life choices make you happy, because there is a right and wrong way to live. Just like female circumcision is always wrong (regardless of circumstance), so are your relationships (if they are not sanctioned by the American Psychiatry Association).

It seems that the goal to be an  “emotionally healthy” and “normal” individual is much more important than being a happy individual. After all, if you’re unhappy you can always go to the local pharmacist, and your purchase will also help boost the economy. However, what exactly is an emotionally healthy and normal individual? Different therapists will give you slightly different definitions, and different cultures will give you contradictory definitions. Unlike with medical health where the world (for the most part) agrees on what constitutes a healthy person, each region of the world has its own idea about the definition of mental health. It seems psychology has become a way that judgmental people can give more importance to their criticism. What do you think defines a mentally healthy person, and have you ever met one?

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9 Responses to Op 7: Psychology or Judgment

  1. Very thought provoking post. Being manic depressive myself, I don’t know what defines a mentally healthy person. All I know is that it’s not me. 😆

  2. prenin says:

    As a functioning Paranoid Schizophrenic of twelve years I must admit I have met saner people inside the Psychiatric unit – they at least did not create the nuclear bomb!!!

    Sanity is relative to the society in which we live and as a none violent Christian who follows Christs directive to love one another I have found my position in society – as prey.

    God Bless!

    Prenin.

    • Thanks for reading. I agree that sanity is very relative. Less than 50 years ago, being gay in America was considered a mental disease. Thankfully that’s not the case anymore, but it just shows how subjective mental health is.

  3. Vadim says:

    In many cases the mental health(MH) could be defined in same way as golden rule of etic.
    You agreed to have same treatment from other that you do to them. Of course, MH is system of equations with too many variables, but this rule could define on of them and be ajusted for different societes.
    Some confusion occurs, when you meet person, which jump from one society to another without proper ajustment. Home child come to boot camp, orphan come to normal family, single became married and vice versa etc.
    Unhelthy person in this case will be the one, who does not change quick enough and not willing to try.

  4. Vadim says:

    The conservative is the one who remains in his/her area and put the tags on others as an unhealthy persons(UP). The conservative become a UP, when ‘brave new world’ is not so brave an new and already widespread mainstream

  5. Philippa says:

    I don’t believe in the concept of total normality. Everybody has their faults and defects – some are just more obvious than others. However, I recently met someone who I believed to be very normal, confident and hilariously funny, until they told me they have suffered from bi polar disorder for 6 years… It just goes to show that even the most ‘normal’ can in fact suffer from illnesses under the surface.

    Great post. Thank you for commenting on my blog, I will definitely be reading more of your stuff!

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