These days there HAS to be something. With the bible of mental disorders, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition (DSM-IV), currently listing more than 400 disorders all with their own separate set of symptoms, don’t be surprised if you fit in somewhere.

When DSM-I was published in 1952 there were 68 disorders each with a short list of symptoms for diagnosing patients and recommending treatment, but over the last 56 years we’ve seemed to have developed over THREE HUNDRED more disorders. Just take a look at some of the codes used in the DSM as listed by Wikipedia.

Mankind seems to have developed a habit of needing to label every state of being, without any scientifically proven idea of how to accurately and permanently fix or improve that state. But surprise surprise, the remedies to these “new” disorders always conveniently make themselves available in pill format almost as quickly as they’re named.

Depression seems to be the big player in this game, with all of North America apparently in the clutches of a pandemic worse than the plague. And the other “disorders” are getting so generic the infomercials at night are getting down right absurd. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear the following ad in the coming years…

“Are you hungry 30min after eating Chinese food? Have you experienced sadness when a member of your family dies? Do you wish you had a more fun and higher paying career job? If you’ve answered yes to more than one of these afflictions you could be like millions of other people suffering from Malnourished Depression. Please call now for more information on our 14-week system to have you back on the road to recovery.”

Everyone out there has a symptom. Timmy loses his job, breaks up with their girlfriend and is forced to move back in with his parents; so after sleeping in and keeping to himself for a few weeks his parents and family doctor diagnose him as being depressed. Well, no shit. I just don’t think that simply because we go through the throws of a bad time in our lives we should head for the medicine cabinet.

One alternative is therapy. I do believe in the power of psychotherapy, but I see it as much more of a subjective, opposed to an objective science.

Allow me to clarify; I believe therapy helps a lot of people move forward through difficult or confusing times in their lives, but I don’t think it has much to do with the fact that they’re seeing a psychotherapist specifically. I think it hangs heavily on the fact that these people FINALLY have a 3rd party outlet to vent to and use as a sounding board for their troubles. Each therapist also has their own biases, especially since most of them are just as messed up as everyone else. The admittedly limited amount of people I know that have decided to go the route of psychologist or psychiatrist usually do so because they found help in therapy at some point in their lives. Everyone has their own prejudices and biases based on where they grew up and how they were raised. Those predetermined viewpoints don’t just magically disappear when you begin counseling someone else and will inevitably effect their treatment, no matter if you're cognizant of the process or it lies in your subconscious.

Obviously there are inevitably better therapists than others, just as there are better teachers than others. Some teachers lift and inspire you to succeed and thrive in the environment while others send you home considering which type of rifle to bring into class the next day. On the whole just being able to talk to someone seems to be enough to keep people’s demons at bay, not a medicine cabinet filled with anti-depressants. What’s life without the ability to feel it?

I’ve been offered a number of sales positions with Pharmaceutical companies throughout the years and my response to their proposals are always the same, “Sorry, ethically I could never work for you.” I cannot seem to grasp how these massive organizations are just left to poison the population with no consequences, nay the odd lawsuit that rarely makes a dent in their bottom line. I understand that there are many life saving drugs out there that do a lot of good, but on the whole I’d say these pharma conglomerates are starting to do more harm than good.

From my vantage point there is a HUGE conflict of interest with having corporations care for our sick. You cannot pursue the interests of the public at large AND your shareholders simultaneously. This is the grand canyon of conflicting interests. Shareholders are interested in PROFITS, and profits are pursued by the growth of business, the limiting of expenses and increased revenue from the sales of a good or service. With that being said, big pharma’s interest is to SELL MORE PRODUCTS (see- DRUGS) and retain current customers (see- PATIENTS).

This isn’t some crackpot conspiracy theory, its just the way things work. When pharma reps first got onto the scene in full force they were offering vacations and golf clubs and other rewards to practitioners that would “push” their medications; now does that sound like the greater good to you? There is currently more legislation in Canada preventing such practices, but where there’s a will to circumvent a law there’s a way.

There is an overwhelming amount of research screaming to the importance of nutrition and exercise, but that seems to be too much trouble for most people. It seems personal health is still playing second fiddle to the convenience of a microwavable dinner or pill solution to give them enough motor function to make it through the NFL season.

In respect to our never ending growth of disorders I think I’d like to add one more.

Hyper apathy: This condition presents itself in the form of having an extreme lack of interest regarding matters of importance. Just sitting back and excepting the reality laid out before you without much thought or concern as to its effect on yourself and those around you - your family and friends.

If we can find a way to beat this oncoming epidemic together, there’s no telling what else we could accomplish.

I think all of us could take more charge of our own lives to work towards something better, opposed to looking for a “magic pill” or miracle solution for what ails you. We are ultimately a sum of our parts, be it a mental road block or a physical change that needs to take place. We should always be looking to improve ourselves to strive towards a better frame of mind. This in turn will effect those around us and hopefully influence change.

W. Edwards Deming once said:
“If you can’t describe what you’re doing as a process, then you don’t know what you’re doing”
Lately that’s the way I’ve been trying to look at life; as a process of getting myself to the places I want to be and person I’d like to evolve to. What can I say, I live a life of lofty goals and perpetual daydreaming.

But I’ve found if you dream of something enough, it becomes so vivid that eventually you’ll find a way to make it happen.