TW: This post mentions suicide.

Why do some claim that mental disorders are “fake” and that we should just “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and move on”?

While resilience is a good thing, dismissing mental disorders as imaginary or personal weakness is misinformed and counterproductive.

Mental disorders can be truly debilitating and impair the everyday functioning of an individual. On a societal level, the economic cost of mental illness in Canada is over $50 billion per year (17,18). Depression and anxiety alone may have an economic cost on the world of US$1 trillion each year (6).

While a mental disorder generally only describes symptoms being experienced, it does not explain its cause. However, we do know of reliable factors that play a role in mental illness (2,19,20,21):

Genetics, and its interaction with the environment (22,23,24)

• Certain genes and family history may be associated with elevated risk

Biology

• Exposure to drugs or alcohol during fetal development (25,26,27,28)
• Bidirectional interaction between physical conditions and mental disorders (e.g., heart disease) (7,29,30,31,32)

Environmental (33,34,35)

• Adverse childhood experience (bullying, emotional abuse, maltreatment, parental loss) (36,37,38)
• Abuse, trauma, adversity (39,40,41)
• Socio-economic status, education, inequalities (42,43,44)

Other psychological factors (45-54)

A mental diagnosis can provide relief, clarify a treatment plan, and qualify you for certain insurance benefits, but it can understandably be distressing. Don’t hesitate to bring up your concerns with your healthcare professional, or get a second opinion.

It’s also important to remember that for many there is still a lot of stigma in getting psychiatric help. Belittling mental disorders only adds to this stigma, needlessly prolonging mental distress.

Sources: https://tinyurl.com/SUFNotJustInYourHead