I don’t care? LOL. Seriously, I hold people accountable for what they say. Any hint of mental instability; a threat of suicide or a threat to harm another and I am a mandated reporter. The person goes to the psych ward. It’s that simple. As a client, you are not going to sit and talk crazy shit in front of me. What then if the client goes out and harms someone? What then if the client does kill themselves? No. You don’t get to be crazy without consequences. There are real-world prizes for real-world problems. More like a glass sledge-hammer.
Look at the questions again. No one is doing that. What do you really want with your life and what are you really doing to get what you want? Pretty basic. We are not talking psychopathology here.
What is a mental illness? It really depends on what model you are using. There is the medical model. Not many use the psychoanalytic model but it is still out there and in use. There is the behavioral model. There is a family systems model. There is a Gestalt model. REBT (Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy) has a model. Existential Therapists have a model, Humanists have a model, I mentioned temperaments and recalled temperament theory also has a model of pathology (Different temperaments present pathology in different ways. The NT is the schizophrenogenic. The SJ is the somatascizor. The SP is the addictive personality. And the NF is the dissociative. Can’t even believe I remember that BS. (Do you want some more models. There are at least 50 more that I can quickly cite.)
This is the reason we use the DSM - 5. We track symptoms, add them together, and magically come up with a 'Mental Disorder." Are you aware of how loosey-goosy the field of psychology is? Psychology is called, ‘a Soft Science’ for good reasons. (Two different psychotherapists will diagnose the same person with different pathologies.) That’s why there are batteries of empirical tests to rely on. But people can perform differently on tests depending on all sorts of stuff. If there was one interpretation of 'Mental Illness" then there would be ‘One’ approved method of dealing with it. (Like the Medical Model). But this is not the case.
This is a fascinating field of study, but it is all statistical, hypothetical, and struggling very hard to be as objective as possible. One of the most curious things about psychological treatment is that people report feeling better or being symptom-free while using techniques that have no scientific basis at all. And then the people believing in those techniques and using those techniques, bend over backward to make them ‘scientific.’ “Regression therapies” come to mind. Past life regression. Psychoanalytic regression. Just made up BS. Previously I mentioned temperaments. Meyer’s/ Briggs were a mother and daughter team, not even professionals: “Briggs was inspired to research personality type theory when she met Isabel’s future husband, Clarence Myers. She noticed he had a different way of seeing the world. This intrigued her enough to start a literature review to understand different temperaments.” The temperament types are based on Jungian theory (Another Theory of mental illness)
I have an opinion as to why these therapies work that is in line with J, Haley’s communication Model. (LOL - Another model of mental illness.) I like this one. While the person is talking about past lives or past experiences, they are disassociating from themselves. They are really talking about themselves in the here and now. It’s called "Disqualification’ in Haley’s language. This technique of getting a client to talk about themselves while not really talking about themselves can be done in many ways. Disqualification of time, (not here and now but last year or when you were a kid.) Disqualification of the message (I just had a strange thought run through my brain, what do you think of… or … I saw this on a bumper sticker the other day, what do you think of… I am not the one saying this to you.) Disqualification of place (Guided imagery, imagine you are in a forest… bla bla bla.) Disqualification of the person (you are getting sleepy, sleepy, and asleep. Imagine you are your father. What do you say to yourself? The person is not there talking to themselves.) There are more…
Most clinicians tend to be eclectic in their approach, applying techniques that are best used for certain presenting problems and client temperaments.
So, what are you calling “Mental Illness” OH! Don’t forget! The legal system has a definition of mental illness as well. This is where you get the word, “Insane.” 'Insane, ’ and ‘sanity’ are legal definitions. “Criminal insanity is understood as a mental defect or disease that makes it impossible for a [defendant to understand their actions, or to understand that their actions are wrong.” (defendant | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute)
Have fun Exploring - To have this discussion you need to indicate which paradigm you are using.
I absolutely love this shit!
… Hey! I just realized something! If I could somehow patent that method of crab removal, I could make millions! 