REPLAY: The Mental Health War: How to Fight It! Ep. 262

Summer is in full swing and that means while Dr. Karin and Pastor Elliott are out we are going back in time to Ep. 262 and replay one of our more popular episodes on mental health! We believe this topic is just as relevant today as it was back in 2023. Whether you're hearing this episode again or for the first time we hope it will empower you!

We’re in the midst of a mental health war. Over the last 50 years, we’ve raised awareness and developed abundant treatment options, yet Americans’ rates of depression and anxiety continue to skyrocket (Whitaker, 2015).

Today, Elliott and I discuss my reflections on his recent messages about the epidemics of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and addiction.

We conceptualize the current mental health landscape as a war for two reasons:  (1) because so many Americans battle psychological concerns and (2) professionals are in the midst of deeply contentious disputes regarding how to best treat clients’ emotional distress.

Pharmaceutical corporations and many psychiatrists view this issue through a medical model i.e. patients are diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses and are prescribed pills to manage symptoms. But despite an exponential increase in the use of psychotropic medications, the number of Americans filing disability claims due to mental conditions has tripled over the last two decades (Whitaker, 2015).

Elliott and I argue that a “medicalized” framework pathologizes reasonable responses to trauma and pain; this frameworks also disempowers clients—which is both an unintended and unfortunate consequence. Furthermore, and very importantly, most pharmaceutical interventions for psychological conditions simply don’t work as promised—if at all (Brogan, 2016, 2019; Whitaker, 2015). 

Join our conversation to learn the necessary tactics for engaging in this mental health war!

Works Cited

Brogan, K. (2016). A mind of your own:  The truth about depression and how women can heal their bodies to reclaim their lives. Harper Wave.

Brogan, K. (2019). Own yourself:  The surprising path beyond depression, anxiety, and fatigue to reclaiming your authenticity, vitality, and freedom. Hay House.

Spielmans, G., Spence-Sing, T., & Parry, P. (2020). Duty to warn:  Antidepressant black box suicidality warning is empirically justified. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 20. ttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00018/full

Whitaker, R. (2015). Anatomy of an epidemic. Broadway Books.

Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

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