What happened to being normal – it seems that every other person has SOME kind of mental health problem.

The labels vary, depending on age and circumstance.

• For kids, if they fail to sit still and comply with the teacher’s instructions – the enthusiasm and excitement of life, is ADHD.
• For the recently widowed, struggling with the loss of her spouse and changed life situation – the sadness is depression.
• For the man whose company began a cycle of retrenchments, who wakes in the middle of the night in a cold sweat – the insecurity and fear is anxiety.

The fix…………. a prescription medication and a label.

Crossing the line

There seems to be a growing tendency to classify “normal” emotions, as ab-normal.

And abnormal anything, requires intervention.

But if the new ABNORMAL, is really the edge of normal and the standard for normality is PERFECTION – the normal are in trouble.

In fact, the normal are diseased. And the diseased are despised by society.

Supermodels only

Already the gold standard for physical health, is the supermodel, the starving photo-shopped waif, whose curveless body, is seldom ACTUALLY healthy.

“Normal” people both literally and figuratively, die, striving to reach this level of perfection.

A perfection that is a fantasy.

A perfection that drives the million dollar industries of weight loss, fitness and medicine.

DSM requires supermodel emotions

The DSM-5, the newly minted diagnostic manual for all things related to mental health, defines healthy as perfection.

Those who fail to meet perfection, who deviate from the norm are labelled, then medicated.

A goldmine for the medical fraternity.

BUT….a travesty for the “normal” individual having an off day/week/season. Instead of fostering resilience, the diagnosis promotes dependence and the belief that the person is “not fit for normal life”. And of course, a life long prescription.

Knowing the difference

Everyone has them, good days and bad days, seasons of abundance and joy, seasons of heartbreak and gloom. We are all wired a little bit differently, some people move more, take things a whole lot more seriously – different doesn’t mean it’s wrong, it is different. Our differences make us interesting. 329, 334

Feeling sad, mad, anxious, excited, bored… are normal human emotions. Life is not meant to be a bed of roses – it is a rollercoaster ride of emotion.

I feel depressed versus I am depressed.

Feeling things is not the same as BEING. The key is KNOW the difference.

Diagnose this…

There is no blood test for ADHD, depression or anxiety – the diagnosis is based on an opinion. Be wary of accepting other people’s labels.

Tolerate your little abnormalities – they’re perfectly NORMAL.

PS. Real food, good company and a little R&R can fix a lot of mental health issues.

Further reading

Could that diagnosis of ADHD be an age thing not a brain thing ?	Delight your brain today by having a green moment	Laughing is not just good medicine for the soul it helps the heart too

Feel like you’re being labelled wrongly ?  

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