Yesterday, I talked about the medical model, family/cultural dysfunction, and other things related. Today, I want to expand more on this, but also talk about the social model. What is the social model? Well, first, let’s talk about the medical model. Grossly simplified, it looks at the ‘problem’ and comes up with a way to fix it. For example, if someone has a broken leg, then they would put a cast on it as a way to make it better. Obviously, not everything is that cut and dry, but that’s the basic gist of the medical model. Something is wrong, so we have to find a way to fix it.
There are complications, of course. I mentioned in the last post that there are many biases that influence medical people. Fatphobia is a big one. Also, the fact that the patient is assumed to be a medium-sized white man with no discernible features.
Now. Mental health issues are different because they are not as easy to measure (well….ok. Not the point, Hong. Move on), but treatment follows the same path. Find the problem, say depression, then attempt to fix it. Through medicine or therapy, maybe both.
There has been an explosion of diferent kinds of therapy in the last decade or so. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has become the darling of therapies, and my cynical side says that it’s in a large part because it’s the easiest to dispense/do.
Focusing on changing behavior is much easier than changing ideas, thoughts, trauma, etc. I have always disliked CBT because the premise is that there is something wrong with the person’s behavior/thoughts/ideas and those need to change. Basically, it ignores strucutural/systemic issues and focuses on the individual. Something is bothering you? It’s your fault or you’re perceiving it incorrectly. Racism? Sexism? Homophobia? Handwaved away.
It’s commonly known that people who are depressed are more broadly perceive the world realistically than people who are more optimistic. Therefore, someone telling a depressed person that it’s all in their head will gain no purchase beacuse the depressed person is more likely than not to be correct.
America is a hellscape right now for social justice rights. That’s my perception, and it depresses the hell out of me. Am I wrong? Nope. Therapy can help me find ways to cope with it, but it cannot change the reality that America is going in the wrong direction.
In additon, I had a shitty childhood. I have a very dysfunctional family. You can’t magic that away or pretend it’s not true. I cannot respect any therapist who won’t acknowledge this.