Mental health and politics: Does how we interpret adversity shape both?
By Brian C. Joondeph, M.D. | Commentary, Rasmussen Reports
Baby boomers grew up in a different mental-health culture. Anxiety, depression, and emotional struggles certainly existed, but they weren’t routine topics of conversation. The prevailing advice was often some variation of “suck it up and keep moving.”
That wasn’t necessarily healthy. Genuine psychiatric illness went untreated, and stigma kept many people from seeking help. Fortunately, much of that stigma has disappeared. But has the pendulum swung too far?
Today, mental health is everywhere. There are therapists, medications, support groups, Reddit communities, and social-media influencers devoted to virtually every psychiatric diagnosis imaginable. Mental-health terminology has even become part of how some people pub...