Being Anxious or Sad Does Not Make You Mentally Ill

July 21, 2023

(The Atlantic) – But one other explanation is emerging for the huge increase in population-wide estimates of mental-health diagnoses: the tendency to see stress and sadness as evidence that something is broken inside you. For many who have them, of course, anxiety and depression are medical problems that absolutely require treatment. But other cases exist for which we may have inadvertently pathologized perfectly healthy emotions—leading many people to believe they are ill simply because they’re reacting normally to the challenges in their lives. (Read More)