Digger deeper with mental health

When managing patients with mental health, I think it’s important to dig deeper and ask “why” until we get clear at the “bottom” of it all.

The danger is to stop at the DSM diagnosis of depression, anxiety, adhd, ASD etc.

Look at the underlying process and try and manage those rather than just the diagnosis per se. That’s the danger of not digging deeper. We may not be treating or targeting the underlying process.

Start with zooming out at the biopsychosocial level. Then zoom into the bio domain. Psycho domain. And social domain. With psychosocial domain, often there is a personality style, way of thinking, way of perceiving, way of feeling, values, beliefs, internal rules, ways of learning etc. that is mismatching their context leading to chronic stress. Think “fish out of water”.

Then we have to lead the fish to water. Without that, chronic stress continues.