Food for thought

Does anyone else intentionally listen to or read something that you’re confident you’re going to dislike or disagree with the opinions it contains? Or is that just me? I like to do this frequently because hearing things we disagree with makes us think. I did this the other day. I listened to a podcast where Candice Owens interviewed Andrew Tate for three hours. If you’ve heard of the controversy surrounding Andrew Tate I think you’ll understand why I thought I was going to dislike it. Well, surprise surprise, I went into it with my preconceived dislike, but relatively open minded and I actually enjoyed it quite a lot. I recommend everyone go listen to it. They covered many topics, but the one that I got hung up on the most was their conversation about our recent focus on mental health and how its weakening us as a society. That sounds insane right? Well, they had some good points. In my personal opinion for most people mental health medications are being over prescribed and there’s very few cases in which you should be on them long term. The way I see it therapy and medication are tools that should be used temporarily to help you break through your toughest times. I don’t think anyone should be in therapy for their entire life. If you feel the need to see your therapist weekly for years and years I think you should reconsider who you see as a therapist. I think a therapist’s primary job is to work themselves out of a job. Similar to medication. Medication should be used as a tool with therapy to help you cope with difficult things you may be working through with your therapist. I don’t believe you should use either for the rest of your life. You should be able to learn about yourself, learn tools, and coping mechanisms. You should learn enough of these things to be able to grow and develop as a person without additional crutches. Now, I’m absolutely not advocating for anyone to stop taking their meds and cancel their therapy appointments right this second. What I am advocating is to just take a look at what you’re doing. Are you using your tools correctly? Are you making progress in therapy? Are the medications necessary anymore? Are you growing? Are you changing? Is your life improving? Are you moving toward where you want to be? If not, maybe it’s time to make some changes. Maybe it’s time to reevaluate your life. Maybe it’s time to make a new game plan. Before you jump on medication that chemically alters your brain chemistry, maybe try something natural. Maybe start exercising. Maybe start meditating. Maybe cut out the fast food. Maybe start feeding your body proper nutrition. See how it goes. Here’s what I believe, obviously I’m not a doctor, I’m not a therapist, I have zero formal education on this subject at all; but I believe firmly that this focus on mental health COULD be helpful to us as a society but I don’t think it is. I feel that too many people use a diagnosis as an excuse for their poor behavior. Too many people use a diagnosis as a reason to stay stuck exactly where they are. A diagnosis is a tool. Therapy is a tool. Medication is a tool. And far too many of us aren’t using them as such. We are using band aid fixes as permanent repairs and it’s not working. Doing this doesn’t only damage you it damages everyone around you, everyone you interact with, everyone you love. You are being SELFISH by using these tools as crutches and excuses to be a piece of shit. A diagnosis isn’t a hindrance. Medication isn’t going to fix you. Your therapist isn’t going to do the work for you. These are all tools to try and give you a leg up not some excuse to cling to. The first step yo change is admitting you have a problem, right? Well, I think the fuck not. You can admit there’s a problem until you’re blue in the face and still have a fucking problem. I think the first step to change is a DESIRE to change and after that everything will come. To change you must first WANT TO CHANGE. And I hope you do. I hope you all want to change because not a single one of us is perfect as we are and we are all CAPABLE OF CHANGE. No one is too old or too stuck in their ways to change. If you really want to change then you will. This focus on mental health could be incredibly empowering if we use the tools we’ve been given properly. Go do something good for yourself. Go learn more about yourself. Go change yourself for the better.