Written by: Travis Thompson, LMFT, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Understanding and treating mental health concerns can easily become overwhelming. With common practice dictating the evaluation of and administration of the benefits of medication, it can seem second nature to focus on the symptoms of mental health disorders as a point of change. It can seem normal to engage in the discussion of the effects of depression and anxiety on the individual with the hopes of alleviating the distress that someone feels. In fact, good intentions can drive a therapist or supportive person to collate all emotional and behavioral responses into the box of “mental health issues.” A bout of sadness and lethargic behavior is a result of depression. A sudden burst of energy is the result of a manic phase or an indication that someone’s ADHD is flaring up again. While descriptive, these evaluations of behavior miss one major aspect, humanity.
The Unwitting Collector
As mental health providers, we are trained to see symptomology in our clients. We hope to find patterns of behavior and belief that can explain the unhealthy patterns people suffer from. With this information, we can tinker with the inner workings of the mind to become the changing influence to ensure progress. Our hope is that the application of knowledge and expertise leads to lasting change.
The training we receive and the supervision we get encourages the analytical evaluation of clients, in part to be as effective as possible, but also to remain neutral enough to not become overwhelmed by a continual influx of emotional connection that leads to burnout. Maybe we remain neutral to honor a client’s own experience, or we do not feel confident enough in ourselves to engage in the vulnerability required to encounter empathy resonant with our own pain.
No matter the reasoning, practitioners and treatment facilities can become enshriners of sickness. Daily check-ins and screenings for dangerous behavior create an environment of hypersensitivity to “unhealthy” behavior, leading to a profound and often overlooked experience of observation bias. Our grand focus on healing the brokenness of those we serve, and continually engaging in discussions of symptomology leads us unwittingly into the conflation of genuine side effects of mental health disorders with the pain of the human experience. This leads to those under our care potentially enveloping the sickness that they came to us for a reprieve from. For if all we talk about is sickness and search every available crevice for sickness, we cannot be shocked to find that our clients find sickness in every corner of their being.
The Perpetual Leper
Partially due to the influence of earnest helpers in their lives and partially due to the impact of the therapeutic community, those that struggle with mental health disorders can find themselves inexorably intertwined with the sickness they hoped to escape. Little fault can be found in someone who seeks help and finds that the help that they receive hyper-focused on their flaws and the need to change. Predictably, these individuals may find themselves in a state of despair, hoping to be free of their shackles, only to believe that what keeps them entangled holds not only their hands but their legs and body as well.
To maintain control and a sense of direction in their life, someone can find themselves identifying themselves as their sickness. They can become “depressed,” “anxious,” “bipolar,” and “broken.” Not a descriptor of behavior, but a moniker to be understood as something synonymous with their very being, mental health is something that does not just drive behavior but dictates the course of someone’s life. With this sickly factor of self-identification becoming a core understanding of self, little difference can be made between the person and their ailment. So, individuals can end up becoming mental health issues themselves, romanticizing a fractured formulation of who they are.
Putting things in their Place
Clients can be encouraged to see themselves as one whole person, generally believed to be a positive way to explore the self. Surely, growth is the connection to all senses of self into one cohesive person. Before, confusion arose when the lines are blurred between what could be marked as symptoms of a mental health issue and what are concerns with a sense of self. So, how could there be a difference? Change can be made by helping people organize their responses and experiences in boxes. These three boxes are mental health symptoms, things that would affect most people, and things that affect someone personally.
The first box, mental health symptoms, holds specific concerns related to symptoms individuals may struggle from. For instance, OCD can cause intrusive thoughts, ideas, and thought patterns that present themselves without any prompting. These can come about without any outside stimuli. Mental health concerns can also cause variations in emotional response, such as depression causing a muted response or anxiety increasing stress responses. In short, mental health symptoms can be seen as triggers for emotions, or fuel for unhealthy patterns.
The second box, things that would affect the majority of people, is simple. It contains events and responses that are consistent and expected from everyone else. Most everyone will be stressed after being in a car accident and most will be startled after a jump scare in a horror movie. These scenarios and responses, like many others in our daily lives, should be considered non-clinical and simply part of the human experience.
The last box, things that affect someone personally, contains the life experience and hurt from someone’s past. It also includes the strengths and benefits of the lessons people learn over time. Memories of loving times can incite warmness in response to the world. Trauma can overprepare individuals to become hypersensitive and hypercritical. These responses are not mental health disorders rearing their heads, but how everyone learns to work with the events that come their way.
A New Lens
The use of boxes is helpful for both mental health professionals and those that they serve. Individuals are not their sickness and are not defined by the symptoms they exhibit. They are simply descriptors, not identifiers. These boxes are also useful for anyone to help explain the different aspects involved in feelings and behaviors. Perceived chaos can push someone to always be on the back foot, never feeling as if the solid ground could be found. There is a great opportunity for relief in understanding the aspects of functioning. Knowledge can be power, but it can also be peace. Boxes are not segmentation of life experience but are ways to understand the responses and behaviors we have in a way that is less pathological and more human. Take the time to sift through what seems like pure mental health disorder and empathize enough to give grace and healthy engagement with yourself and those around you.
Travis Thompson, LMFT, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Travis Thompson, is a researcher, teacher, and therapist focused on healing the lives of those in addiction. With a drive to see effective, long-term change in his community, he has dedicated himself, his practice, and his doctoral work on both research, education, and implementation of recovery. He strives to further the mental health field towards a holistic and advanced understanding of what addiction truly is, where it comes from, and how we all can help.
