Mainstream mental health care is rooted in the DSM-5, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition. The first edition originated in 1952 with 106 “diagnoses” and the current edition now lists over four hundred! These diagnoses are based on anecdotal conclusions by practitioners and list behavioral criteria that are subjectively observed and assessed, or subjectively reported by the patient.

These diagnoses were agreed and voted on by the members of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) committee that drafted the DSM. The number of diagnoses keeps growing, and more and more “normal” human responses are now listed in the DSM as diagnosable.

Grief (Uncomplicated Bereavement), for instance, which was removed from the DSM over twenty years ago when the committee members and advisory board members recognized it as a “normal reaction to loss” and not pathological, is now back in, listed as a form of depression. Lucky us: Aunt Edna has died, and our insurance companies will now pay for us to take antidepressants at her funeral. Have nightmares? (Nightmare Disorder) No problem! We’ve got a pill for that! Having troubles at work? (Occupational Problems). No problem! We’ve got a pill for that! Having problems getting medical help? (Problems Related to Access to Medical and Other Health Care). No problem! We’ve got a pill for that! I am not making these up, I swear.

A typical visit to the psychiatrist might go something like this: Patient: “I can’t concentrate on things for long; I’m impatient, and impulsive. I can’t sit still, I need to be moving and doing things, and I have trouble falling asleep.” Doctor: “Oh, you have Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, or ADHD. I have this prescription drug for you. Try it for a week or so.”

Assessment time before prescription: fifteen minutes. No blood test, no scan, no science. The diagnosis is just a fancy language restatement of what the patient said. (Is this really progress, or treatment?)

The mental health diagnoses are, as stated in the title of the manual, STATISTICS, averages, if you will, or descriptive generalities. Basically, labels; labels that then get sanctioned by national medical associations and paid for by insurance companies, which along with pharmaceutical firms, run mental health treatments (and all medical care) in the world.

Currently there are over 100 million people on psychotropic drugs in the USA, 70% of which aren’t even dispensed by psychiatrists, but rather, by General Practitioner MD’s.

Even though it costs over a million dollars to submit a drug for approval to the FDA, the drug trials on the “fast track” (for an extra fee), can last as little as four to eight weeks (yes, weeks). But because each psychotropic drug out there can earn anywhere from seven to twelve million dollars A DAY (yes, a day!), drugs are a huge business.

Pharmaceuticals make psychiatrists look like “real” doctors (they dispense medicine), and help create a huge illusion of mental health treatment for the general public. Unfortunately, it just isn’t real, for one big reason: we are people with feelings and experience, and not just a cauldron of brain chemicals. To get healthy we need to get more real, not more unreal on drugs. If we could clear away the smoke screen of all the diagnostic labels, and psychobabble, and pharmaceutical nonsense about “chemical imbalance in the brain,” we might actually get to what leads to mental illness and emotional suffering, and what alleviates them.

Our mental health “philosophy”: Health equals wholeness. To make whole is our goal. Connecting with and integrating disconnected and disowned parts of the Psyche is paramount. Removing blocks and obstacles to happiness and fulfillment in our relationships, our life path, tweaks the system towards wholeness. Mental health symptoms don’t just manifest out of nowhere, but rather emerge into our consciousness (especially as we detox) from imprinted pain, limiting beliefs and conclusions, or basic human needs not met in our history. Real therapy gets to the root. The only way we address “chemical imbalance” externally is by what we eat. Super nutrification is the way to go.

The solution to mental and emotional problems comes from you, not the therapist. The therapist’s job is to help you connect inside, to help you ride out and override the resistance to feeling your own pain (and even your greatness), and ultimately to change...to help you tap into your own inner resources so you can make empowered self-caring choices.

Although mainstream mental health treatment has been swallowed up by the medical and pharmaceutical worlds, it’s up to us to recognize and reclaim both the wholeness of our inner life and the right to wholesome mental health treatments. The current structure of diagnostic labels and dehumanizing drugs which dominate the field, do a grave injustice to the human heart and its ability to heal. Their seductive message says: “It’s not your fault. It’s just a chemical imbalance in your brain, and there’s nothing for you to do about it. Let us handle it for you. No need to deal, or be uncomfortable. Take this pill.”

Our message says: “Self-love, self-responsibility, and self-esteem stand as the rudders and sails by which you can navigate your life into mental health and happiness. Deal with your inner and outer life with empowerment. Feel deeply. You can do it.”

The great therapist, Carl Jung said, “Know your labels, but lay them aside when you deal with the beauty of the human soul.” Ah, the beauty of the human soul. Now we’re talking true mental health.

Andy Bernay-Roman, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, MS, RN has served as a mind/body psychotherapist at the Hippocrates Health Institute since December of 1990, using and teaching radical, feeling-centered, body-focused, awareness tools to help guests and health educators. He conducts private sessions with individuals, couples and families, and facilitates the ongoing Healing Circle Therapy and Support Group.