[DanBC]

The first sentence: "Mental health problems range from the worries we all experience as part of everyday life to serious long-term conditions."

EDIT: http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-healt...

> All sorts of situations can cause stress. The most common involve work, money matters and relationships with partners, children or other family members. Stress may be caused either by major upheavals and life events such as divorce, unemployment, moving house and bereavement, or by a series of minor irritations such as feeling undervalued at work or dealing with difficult children. Sometimes there are no obvious causes.

> Stressful events that are outside the range of normal human experience, for example being abused or tortured, may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

> Some stress can be positive. Research shows that a moderate level of stress makes us perform better. It also makes us more alert and can help us perform better in situations such as job interviews or public speaking. Stressful situations can also be exhilarating and some people actually thrive on the excitement that comes with dangerous sports or other high-risk activities.

> But stress is only healthy if it is short-lived. Excessive or prolonged stress can lead to illness and physical and emotional exhaustion. Taken to extremes, stress can be a killer.

[tomjen3]

Isn't that the main issue? We can easily dismiss depression because everybody feels sad sometimes, we can easily dismiss burn-out as you just don't feel motivated, etc.

[DanBC]

Yes, sadness is a normal part of life and we don't want to treat sadness as a medical condition. Sometimes that sadness interferes with day to day life, and it doesn't seem to be going away. Most people who experience grief will work through it; the grief changes. So when these problems start interfering with day to day living is when people need help.

And for most people that's going to be small interventions - having a coffee with a friend who is talking to you for example. The interventions taper up as the severity of the illness increases. Talking therapies; medication; hospital in-patient stays; rarely, if someone is at risk of death or of harming other people they can be hospitalised against their will; even more rarely there's ECT.

We know that early intervention is important. And modern mental health services should be talking about "resilience" which increases someones ability to cope with daily life.

[collyw]

Lots of strawmen. I talked about burnout and exhaustion, not stress.