No, I believe that (because I do believe established facts) so the Reagan admin had it's part. But the larger context is that the disestablishment of the mental health infrastructure had bipartisan support and the root causes for that support came primarily from liberal, compassionate ideas that mental health commitments were harsh, de-humanizaing, and should be abandoned. (Recall Geraldo Rivera's Willowbrook expose and Jack Nicholson's portrayal in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest). And if you want to dive deeper, mental illness theory at the time leaned towards a belief that mentally ill people were misunderstood and release back into communities was the more enlightened approach. And on the cutting edge, some psychologists advanced the idea that mental illness was a "myth". See, for example, the Thomas S. Szasz's book ["The Myth of Mental Illness"]{https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Mental-Illness-Foundations-Personal/dp/0061771228/ref=sr_1_1?crid=31W08W5YP12LU&keywords=the+myth+of+mental+illness&qid=1663039465&sprefix=the+myth+of+mental+illness%2Caps%2C250&sr=8-1}. (This was assigned reading in my Psych 101 course.)
Likewise, you aren't wrong.
I understand you feel desperate and I'm not discounting that. Most people want help, they just don't know how or have the courage to ask. You deserve a lot of credit for putting yourself out there and doing both.
This "easy button" does not exist as you imagine it. The psychedelics are a tool, just like nitro glycerin or an umbrella. They aren't one size fix all magic wands. You need a whole tool kit to deal with life's problems.
Here's another excellent tool. Take care.
I feel people need to identify with something and having a “mental illness” is at times the equivalent of Christians identifying with Christianity. Not to mention, most people who say they are depressed are misdiagnosing themselves based on internet based searches and answers. Additionally, the internet can actually validate people’s emotions far easier than humanity ever could before. If people feel they are on the ADD spectrum, they can find thousands of articles and forums that validate those inner thoughts and beliefs, even if they aren’t true about you. Not to mention they equate being sad or down with being depressed and the two aren’t the same. Human emotion has a range and an ebb and flow throughout the day. To be 100% happy 24/7 is not realistic. A healthy brain has ups and downs.
Also, many life situations and thoughts contribute to depression and make it worse. Even the thinking that “I am depressed” worsens and keeps people in that mindset that they are suffering from depression when in reality it’s something else like being sad you didn’t get promoted or upset that your friend is mad at you.
Mental illness is a myth. A mind construct. There’s a great book that goes in depth with this called “The Myth of Mental Illness” - https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Mental-Illness-Foundations-Personal/dp/0061771228
In addition to this list, I'd recommend:
You are insulting me.
And yes, mental illnesses that cannot be reliably tested are not essentially different from superstitions:
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Mental-Illness-Foundations-Personal/dp/0061771228
Insteresting.
These studies still suffer from the "mental illness" framework, which some argue is just a way of psychiatrists to force people to conform:
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Mental-Illness-Foundations-Personal/dp/0061771228
Today we understand that "gender identity" is a religion rather than a medical concept.
As an MS4 on the interview trail for psychiatry, I wanted to read some opposition work. I came across some work by Thomas Szasz (this book in particular).
Anyway, I did a little background research on him and found out he founded CCHR International. Where had I heard of that group before? Reddit!
Mental illness is ambiguous mythology
I would agree with you, but if you've ever been institutionalized, you'll find out pretty quickly that the dominant paradigm doesn't. The "mental illess" label, in all my experiences, is used to pretty much absolve a person of any blame, and attribute all agency to some kind of bad genetics or other.
In other words, in the mental health world, you might find that many if not most practitioners would try to convince you that yes, air density is not only the main thing that affects your car speed, it's more or less the only thing.
Besides personal experience, I'm kind of cribbing from Thomas Szasz here. He has a lot of good books, but this one is as cromulent a starting place as any: