11 Jan 2023 2:16 am
Part 1/2
[In some imaginary space station]
Alien: Greetings human. There's so much about "your kind" that fascinates me, I hardly even know where to begin.
Me: I won't contradict you there...heh. Where shall we begin?
Alien: I would like to learn about the phenomenon known as "mental illness." It seems you humans, at least in more "civilized" geographies, have seen an explosion in cases over the past 5-8 decades.
Me: Well I could discuss this subject for the rest of my life and not dissect every little ligament there is...but the simplistic explanation is that chronic stress, which can be exogenous (by other people/outside events) or endogenous (self-inflicted messaging/harm) can cause a breakdown in the human psyche.
This breakdown can manifest in various conditions that fall under an umbrella known as "mental illness." There are many such labels for each supposed "mental illness."
Alien: Labelled by whom?
Me: The 2 APAs...American Psychiatric Association that publishes the DSM (a diagnostic manual) + American Psychological Association. You could also throw in other groups like NAMI + the WHO which also works indirectly with national "mental health organizations." Each country has their own authorities on the matter.
Alien: Do you trust them?
Me: No, not really.
Alien: Is there a reason?
Me: It's a deep rabbit hole so I won't get into too many details...but those like myself (and those more intelligent than I) have noticed that the growth of these associations tends to coincide with the explosion of the same conditions that said groups purport to "study" and eventually "fix."
The same can be said of groups designated for other causes like the NCI (National Cancer Institute), the AHA (American Heart Association), etc.
Billions of dollars get funneled to these groups, collectively, every year...I ASSUME they don't want the gravy train to stop delivering "the goods."
Alien: You think the organizations are making these terms up?
Me: I believe "mental illness" as a concept is perfectly valid.
In ages past, people would often undergo episodes of mental illness whenever some traumatic event occurred...like seeing their neighborhoods destroyed in war/their friends or family dead. This is undeniable.
Today is a bit different, so it's hard to say which labels are true/made up fiction.
Alien: OK, so why would these organizations make up all these terms? Is there a motive?
Me: Very likely.
The vast majority of human beings are a bunch of sheep. One way to confuse the sheep, or to assert your authority on a matter, is to insert "jargon," or language specific to a field or profession that outsiders are unaware of. These labels are "jargon"...thereafter the sheep can applaud you for your pseudo-intellectualism.
The financial industry in particular is notorious for "jargon"...when all they do is shuffle some money around and take a cut ("slice") out of every transaction.
To give you an example of the stupidity of humans, one of the celebrity billionaires, Elon Musk, talked about a "hyperloop" for many years. It's a patently stupid idea where some underground tunnel would enable "privileged/special" people (like Musk himself, to nobody's surprise) to travel between/within cities at a fraction of the time required to board a private helicopter/plane that would accomplish the same goal...
...and of course such a lavish project would be financed by taxpayer dollars. (Coincidence I'm sure)
Musk may as well be a genius...at least when it comes to deceiving the sheep and pulling the wool over their eyes (no pun intended).
Alien: You don't seem to have a high opinion of most humans.
Me: That's putting it lightly, but no, not really.
[In some imaginary space station]
Alien: Greetings human. There's so much about "your kind" that fascinates me, I hardly even know where to begin.
Me: I won't contradict you there...heh. Where shall we begin?
Alien: I would like to learn about the phenomenon known as "mental illness." It seems you humans, at least in more "civilized" geographies, have seen an explosion in cases over the past 5-8 decades.
Me: Well I could discuss this subject for the rest of my life and not dissect every little ligament there is...but the simplistic explanation is that chronic stress, which can be exogenous (by other people/outside events) or endogenous (self-inflicted messaging/harm) can cause a breakdown in the human psyche.
This breakdown can manifest in various conditions that fall under an umbrella known as "mental illness." There are many such labels for each supposed "mental illness."
Alien: Labelled by whom?
Me: The 2 APAs...American Psychiatric Association that publishes the DSM (a diagnostic manual) + American Psychological Association. You could also throw in other groups like NAMI + the WHO which also works indirectly with national "mental health organizations." Each country has their own authorities on the matter.
Alien: Do you trust them?
Me: No, not really.
Alien: Is there a reason?
Me: It's a deep rabbit hole so I won't get into too many details...but those like myself (and those more intelligent than I) have noticed that the growth of these associations tends to coincide with the explosion of the same conditions that said groups purport to "study" and eventually "fix."
The same can be said of groups designated for other causes like the NCI (National Cancer Institute), the AHA (American Heart Association), etc.
Billions of dollars get funneled to these groups, collectively, every year...I ASSUME they don't want the gravy train to stop delivering "the goods."
Alien: You think the organizations are making these terms up?
Me: I believe "mental illness" as a concept is perfectly valid.
In ages past, people would often undergo episodes of mental illness whenever some traumatic event occurred...like seeing their neighborhoods destroyed in war/their friends or family dead. This is undeniable.
Today is a bit different, so it's hard to say which labels are true/made up fiction.
Alien: OK, so why would these organizations make up all these terms? Is there a motive?
Me: Very likely.
The vast majority of human beings are a bunch of sheep. One way to confuse the sheep, or to assert your authority on a matter, is to insert "jargon," or language specific to a field or profession that outsiders are unaware of. These labels are "jargon"...thereafter the sheep can applaud you for your pseudo-intellectualism.
The financial industry in particular is notorious for "jargon"...when all they do is shuffle some money around and take a cut ("slice") out of every transaction.
To give you an example of the stupidity of humans, one of the celebrity billionaires, Elon Musk, talked about a "hyperloop" for many years. It's a patently stupid idea where some underground tunnel would enable "privileged/special" people (like Musk himself, to nobody's surprise) to travel between/within cities at a fraction of the time required to board a private helicopter/plane that would accomplish the same goal...
...and of course such a lavish project would be financed by taxpayer dollars. (Coincidence I'm sure)
Musk may as well be a genius...at least when it comes to deceiving the sheep and pulling the wool over their eyes (no pun intended).
Alien: You don't seem to have a high opinion of most humans.
Me: That's putting it lightly, but no, not really.