Do You Still Believe in Mental Illness? I Don't ... Here's why
Do you feel triggered by this question? Good! Then hear me out…..
By EMMA JAYNES
Let me begin by sharing a very brief bit of my history first. I have experienced, throughout my life, severe episodes of emotional/mental distress. I have been drugged for it, I have been under the ‘care’ of a psychiatrist in mental health services, I have been hospitalised, and even told I would never work or study again.
So, why would I say I don’t believe in mental illness?
Well, let’s start by looking at the nature of illness. Illness, by definition, signifies the presence of disease. Fundamentally, in order for something to be a disease, it must have a clear organic, biological, origin – that means that we must be able to find evidence of something within, or on, the body, that can be identified by a test or investigation of some kind. For example, a blood test, x-ray, or scan.
So, here’s the thing…..
In the 100 years or so, that we have been looking for the disease origins of emotional/mental health challenges, we have never found a single shred of evidence, for it, not one, not ever!
Read that again…
‘But’, I hear you say, ‘my doctor told me I had a chemical imbalance in my brain’
Maybe they did, but it does not, and cannot, make it so. Did you have a blood test for serotonin or dopamine levels? Did they scan your brain and find the source of your ‘mental illness’?
I can 100% confidently answer those questions right here, right now, no! They did not.
Maybe you are shocked about this. Or maybe you already knew. After all, it is no longer even controversial in my field. In fact, it is common knowledge, but many people, including some doctors, who really should know better, continue to propagate this myth (that is really a lie). I may or may not return to why that might be so, at some point.
Suffice it to say, for now, that the NHS (in the UK) operates circa 50 years behind the research in this respect – but that is really just providing a get out clause that excuses poor, at best, and harmful, at worst, medical practices, when it is very very easy for any layperson to access this kind of information with just a little effort and a smartphone.
So, if it is not an illness, what is it then?
I will lay out a little more information about the great myth. After all, you deserve to know, especially in these times where, we are told, mental health challenges are greatly on the rise (Hint: why might that be, during this covid era? – it will become clear, later)
So, given that there is no chemical, biological, or genetic cause of emotional/mental distress, let’s work through them, one by one:
1. Chemical Imbalance? ….. Nope
Now, that might sound surprising, or even shocking to some of you, as the story of the chemical imbalance, in particular, has been a very powerful one.
The notion first came about when scientists and doctors were experimenting with drugs, after WW2, looking for cures for infectious diseases. They began to notice that some of the drugs had other effects, such as making the person seem brighter or more sedated. They then ran animal studies testing the drugs for specifically mood related purposes and began to attempt to hypothesise about what was going on.
When neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain) were discovered in the 1950s, it was first thought that Norapinephrine was implicated in depression, until they settled on Serotonin (the one you have probably all heard of in relation to depression).
When scientists ventured that the drugs were doing something to the neurotransmitter pathways in the brain, they began to surmise that the drugs might be rectifying some kind of ‘deficiency’, for example. The pharmaceutical industry wanted to find a way of getting the drugs out into the market quickly and, thus, Eli Lilly latched onto this theory. Even though it was never proven to be so, the ‘deficiency’ theory sounded like a plausible, easily understandable and, most importantly for them, highly marketable concept, and, thus, the chemical imbalance theory of ‘mental illness’ was born and, to this day, has never been evidenced.
In contemporary culture, many of us are still trying to track down places (websites, textbooks; NHS pamphlets etc..) where this misinformation is given, and many psychiatrists themselves, are working hard to reform their profession. However, the chemical imbalance story is still prevalent in popular culture and there is still a lot of work to be done to educate, not only the general public, but even GPs and other health professionals whose knowledge has not been updated. (See Professor Joanna Moncrieff: The myth of the chemical cure and Dr Peter Breggin: Your drug may be your problem – both psychiatrists!)
2. Biological causes? ….. Nope
With regards to the biological causes of EMHCs, the idea that there must be differences between the brains of people with and without diagnoses of certain kinds has been studied.
For many of these studies, though, it was quite difficult to find study participants with a diagnosis who had not been on drugs, ever. Thus, when scientists began to look inside the brain with the new MRI technology, for example, they thought they has discovered the biological basis of diagnoses such as ‘schizophrenia’ later to find that the differences in brain structure & size, were effects of anti-psychotic medications.
Also, it was difficult to pin down the people who could be described as having ‘schizophrenia’, because diagnoses are subjective, not scientific categories. ie there is no clear way of knowing that two participants could be deemed to have the same ‘condition’, because there is no clear objective test to identify a mental health condition.
In fact, mental health diagnoses, were decided by a small group of men, sat around a board table, and voted on by consensus, because there was no scientific evidence upon which to base them.
3. What about genes and heritability? ….. Nada
By now, it is probably clear what I am going to say, but I will take a bit of time to explain the difference between genetic causes and inheritance.
It was thought that there must be noticeable genetic defects in people who were mentally ill – ie a gene that has gone wrong, or that causes mental ill health. 
Heritability is about the notion that ‘mental illness’ runs in families – that you can inherit something from a family member, usually a close relative.
There have been numerous headlines over the years suggesting that ‘the gene for ….. has been found’ -schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or some other category. Yet, again, no one gene has ever been found that causes emotional/mental health challenges.
In fact, with Schizophrenia, it has been shown that there are at least 10,000 genes involved in the expression of symptoms, which is almost half the human genome!
With the advent of the field of epigenetics, we are now beginning to realise that gene expression is inextricably linked to the environment. That is, even if you have a gene for, say, breast cancer, that gene may never be expressed – you can create an environment in which that gene cannot possibly be ‘switched on’.
So, the final strand, can you inherit ‘mental illness’ from family members – well, it depends again, what you mean by ‘inherit’ – let’s ask another way? Does mental ill health run in families – the simple answer is ‘yes’ – however, this is not because there is a genetic predisposition, but because the environment is one that nurtures mental ill health rather than mental health. You can learn mental illness and you can be born into a family environment that is traumatic for you, for many reasons.
So, again, you may, by now, be wondering….. If there is no chemical cause, how come there are chemical cures?
The simple answer is, there are no chemical cures. Antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines (tranquilisers), and other such drugs, do not cure mental health challenges. In fact, they operate in exactly the same way as any other, recreational, psychotropic/ psychoactive (ie mind or mood altering) drug eg alcohol, cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine, heroine, etc… The only difference is that they are given on prescription, rather than bought from a dealer.
Hence, you might hear people saying ‘but I took antidepressants and I felt much better’ – you might even have said this yourself. You may well have had an experience where you felt different or better, at least for a while. There are a number of reasons for this (see my long article for more info).
The research shows us that the placebo effect for psychiatric drugs is very high – this means that, in studies, there is often no significant difference between groups of people who took the actual drug, and groups of people who thought they were taking a drug but got a sugar pill instead.
Also, as already stated, the drugs are mind altering thus, they will have some kind of effect, that people might find relieving. For example, antipsychotics, often cause deep sedation and a numbing of emotions. Initially this might be experienced as a positive, especially, if you have been very anxious and unable to sleep for a long time. The issue is that, over time, the adverse effects of the drug become more problematic than the original issue. And, the research show us that in general, over time, people who take psych drugs, have a worse long term prognosis than those who did not (see Robert Whitaker – Anatomy of an Epidemic) – ie they get worse rather than better, over the long term.
Ok, so, if there is no chemical, biological, or genetic cause, or chemical cure, what does cause mental health challenges, and what can we do about it?
What we do know, and what the research actually shows us, is that Trauma, Stress, and Social issues, cause mental health challenges. In fact, these things can all be reduced to trauma/stress, but many people wouldn’t identify themselves as traumatised so, I tend to put it like this.
A lot of people may not even realise they have been traumatised. We often think of trauma as some huge event like a car crash, or a war, or sexual abuse. And, yes, whilst these things can undoubtedly cause trauma, it can also be things that seem far more insignificant than this. Plus, when we have been traumatised as children or infants, our brains protect us from them by concealing the event from our conscious memory. Thus, we may experience the effects of trauma, without knowing we have experienced a traumatic event, as such.
So, what is trauma then?
Trauma is not what happens to us but what happens inside of us as a result of what happens to us, and that trauma is manifested in a disconnection from (your)self – Dr Gabor Mate
So, as Dr Gabor Mater tells us (above), it is not the event itself that causes trauma (which is Greek for ‘wound’), it is how you react/respond to it, that is the trauma.
And how you respond to trauma will be directly proportionate to how resilient you are, and your resilience is directly related to how secure your formative years were. Hence, if you had alcoholic parents, for example, you will experience the world as a fundamentally unsafe place (consciously or unconsciously) and you are much more likely to be traumatised by certain things that happen to you.
What about stress and social issues?
Stress, in this context is actually ‘distress’ as some stress (eustress) is a positive force in life, but that is for another time. Here, stress, means distress, or the type of stress that causes harm to you and others.
When we are stressed, everything is put under pressure. We now know that stress is probably at the root of most, if not all, physical health problems, (see Gabor Mate – When the Body Says No: The costs of hidden stress) in addition to affecting mental health too.
Trauma is, of course, a form of stress in the system, and it must be calmed, before we can regain and retain good emotional/mental wellness.
When we are stressed, our body and mind get stuck in survival mode and, thus, we cannot think clearly. Our behaviour can be erratic, and our mood inconsistent.
‘Social issues’ are basically anything that is going on around you, in your social environment, community, home, that affects you. For example, it could be financial problems, living in a high crime area, poverty, etc… Nutrition is also a huge factor in mental health which I will address elsewhere.
So, what can we do about it?
There is so so much we can do about emotional and mental health challenges, from the very ordinary states of feeling a bit ‘stressed out’, anxious, or low, right through to experiences of seeing or hearing things that others don’t. (NB I never use the diagnostic criteria to describe emotional/ mental distress – once I have made you aware of my stance).
Clearly, I cannot go through all of that right here, right now. However, there are some fundamental needs that humans have that must be met in order for us to feel healthy, balanced, and well.
These things include things like: needing a purpose in life (big or small), needing to feel connected with other people (see my article), needing to feel valued by yourself and others, needing
to feel that you have command over your life and can make good decisions for yourself. In fact, in You Know You we look at fifteen essential needs across the five realms of your physical, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual life.
It is also important that you have a personal values system. These are things that are very important to you, non-negotiable in fact, and that you would be willing to stand by, at all costs. Your values are ensuring. They must make good sense to you. The same is true of your beliefs, and often, it is your beliefs that might need altering or updating, if they are not working out well for you, or even sabotaging your success, health, and happiness.
And, of course, you need to address any trauma that may be getting in the way of your ability to achieve your goals.
You might be able to identify stuck trauma by looking at those situations in your life that repeat themselves, despite your best efforts not to. For example, repeating dysfunctional relationships, inability to gain or retain a job, perpetual feelings of sadness or unease, feeling like you don’t know who you are or where your boundaries are.
If you are not sure, ask for help. It is advisable to work with a professional who specialises in, and really understand trauma. That professional might be a psychologist or a therapist, or a healer of some kind – it doesn’t really matter, as long as they know their stuff and have done their own work on themselves.
So, there you have it. I do not believe in mental illness. I do believe that people suffer great emotional/mental distress caused by trauma and adverse social circumstances.
How about you?
NB Never ever stop taking psychiatric drugs. It can be harmful to stop ‘cold turkey’ and you must be supported by a medical professional or someone who has experience of helping people to withdraw from them.
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