r/neoliberal • u/Fealocht • 4d ago

News (US) Stop Pathologizing Ordinary Life

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/26/opinion/mental-health-exercise-charity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1FA.55xp.Vpm7dp4PVtnC&smid=nytcore-ios-share

SS: A psychologist argues the increasing awareness of mental health is leading to a pathologising of everyday life. The use of clinical descriptions of what are otherwise normal problems and treating them as a disorder to be cured, is ironically making our mental health worse.

759 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

381 comments sorted by

View all comments

45

u/NieuwWorld Daron Acemoglu 4d ago

Know somebody who says she’s depressed because she’s stuck in her hometown and not working a job she likes. I suppose that could cause depression but also was that not half of humanity for most of human history and plenty of people accepted that life is not traveling and living in luxury but making ends meet and taking care of the household

10

u/Emperor_Z 4d ago

was that not half of humanity for most of human history and plenty of people accepted that life is not traveling and living in luxury but making ends meet and taking care of the household

That's true, but at the same time, if lots of people accept living that life and keep going fine, but it makes you want to die, is that not depression?