| I've written several comments about this topic on HN before, but here goes again. I've had a lot of mild/moderate anxiety and depression since early in life, and whilst it's never been severe enough for me to be at risk of doing harm to myself or others, it has been a major complication in achieving good outcomes (i.e., always showed some promise and early success at intellectual, sporting and social pursuits, but could never hold it together enough emotionally to get sustained results.) At times of particular seriousness, medication provided some relief; mostly SSRIs (sertraline/Zoloft), which I've taken in low doses for a total of about 3 years, and occasional valium for acute anxiety. But whilst these medicines made life more bearable, they never made life feel "normal" or felt like any kind of complete solution. Part of the issue I guess was that I had a really strong feeling that what I was experiencing wasn't a biological malfunction or predetermined trait. I guess I knew that from the fact that I'd been able to do quite well at things, and feel quite happy, at least some of the time, throughout my life. It didn't make sense that I'd be biologically programmed to be well-functioning some of the time, but not at others. After a long search I discovered deep subconscious emotional healing techniques, that enabled me to connect with the programmed reactions and beliefs that I'd picked up from some unpleasant early life experiences, that had snowballed as I progressed through life. I've been undertaking various forms of these kinds of practices for about 8 years now, and bit by bit the anxiety and depression has dissipated, and my life outcomes (career/finances, friendships/relationships and physiological health) have steadily improved and are now doing so at an accelerating rate (though of course there are still ups and downs, with or without macro events like pandemics). As I look around at all the unrest and widespread mental "illness" in the world, I can easily see links to the distress that so many people feel for all kinds of different specific reasons, but that often boil down to similar patterns: difficulties in childhood (feeling unsafe/unloved/undernourished at home), leading to difficulties getting good social and/or academic outcomes in school, leading to difficulties as people progress into adulthood and try to establish careers, social networks and romantic relationships in a world that can be very hostile to people who don't tick certain boxes. I'm now quite convinced that the mainstream psychopharmacology industry is a failing effort to paper over the gaping hole in modern society's ability to provide people with the nurturing, confidence and agency needed to build satisfying lives. From my own experience I'm sure things can be much better, but it will take a major rethink about much of the way we go about supporting people on their life journeys. |
Can you elaborate on this? Can you recommend any resources?