One of the most common I get is what is the threshold between sadness and mental illness, between stress and an anxiety disorder? The short answer is: it depends and also that there is a huge grey area when it comes to this. Let’s dive deeper into why it is not clear cut.
In one of my earlier threads, I mentioned that categories for mental health are very arbitrary and and are not like physical illnesses where we can get a scan or blood work and reach conclusions. A bunch of ‘experts’ meet and update the DSM and the categories for mental health
Every few years, the lines change and what used to be normal is now mental health related. Let’s take grief, as an example. Just a few years ago, grief would not fit under mental illness unless it extended past one year. That’s right, one year of that pain and depression before
It becomes abnormal. Why one year? Why not 6 months or 3 years? And grieving is too general? Are we grieving a parent, sibling? Are we grieving a suicide of a loved one (takes longer). Now there is no set time limit to that. As you can see, even within our field, we dont agree.
Now let’s move on to grey areas and this is where it gets even more complicated. If we feel sad for a day, is it depression (probably not). How about a week? A month? I, myself, don’t know. Is that sadness or stress related to something specific in the environment?
If yes, then removing that stressor should remove the stress or sadness. Well not quite. The damage done by a stressor can linger even if it is technically gone. The blow to our wellbeing and self-esteem take a long time to recover. How about unprompted sadness or stress?
Well, it also depends. Is it something from our childhood? Is it due to something missing? Why the hell is our brain acting this way? Is it mental illness? No one is sure really. You might be wondering at this point if anything is certain and whether even those of us who are
‘Experts in the field’ know anything and you are right because psychology as a discipline only deviated from philosophy about 170 years ago and the brain is the most complex system that has ever existed (yes even more than the universe itself).
So how do I know when it comes time to getting professional help? That’s when you come in. No expert can answer that question. Is your daily life affected? Usually, the first things to go away when we are feeling low are concentration, focus, attention and memory.
That’s the criteria that many of us like to go with. How much does it affect your life? If it is not at all, then you probably don’t need any treatment? If it is a little, we will do a few sessions and work on prevention. If it is bad, that’s when we have to be aggressive.
That’s why only YOU can know if you need help. Us professionals can’t even agree amongst ourselves what constitutes the limit between getting help or not. It changes often. What doesn’t change is your self-assessment on how it is affecting your wellbeing.
Hope this helped a little show how hard it is for everyone to know, but also clarify on how YOU are your own expert. As always, I am open for questions or clarifications and hope you all have a great day ☺️💚
