Mental illnesses - when they are legitimate and not drug-company manufactured shams such as ADD and ADHD in boys - have root-causes. These root-causes could be identified and analyzed to shed light on our methods of socialization.
If we were to reframe a mental illness as a perversion or distortion then we could trace its origin back to something that either the individual was 'doing' or that was being 'done' to the individual.
And understand it not as something unavoidable and inevitable but as an error that could be corrected. This is precisely the way that mysticism and Buddhist philosophy regards ALL SUFFERING!
Let us take as an example issues surrounding fatherlessness. We now have available a plethora of evidence in support of the benefits of children accessing present and interactive fathers in the service of a lifelong boosting of their self-esteem and mental health.
In fact, there is not a single arena of activity - including scholastic achievement, physical vitality, adaptability to stressful circumstances and the like that is not positively affected by a child being raised by both a mother AND a father.
So, in lieu of this knowledge why not a week devoted to raising awareness as to the benefits of fatherhood?
Why not nip potential problems and liabilities in the bud?
Why not create a massive media and educational campaign devoted to instilling in the minds of members of our society the indispensability of fathers and positive male role-models in the lives of our children?
Then, I can guarantee that the incidence of mental illnesses would plummet. But, if you survey our current reality you will realize that mechanisms to ensure the very opposite are in place.
So, I ask, WHOM DOES AN INITIATIVE SUCH AS MENTAL HEALTH WEEK ACTUALLY SERVE? If it does nothing but normalize the abnormal and offer no workable solutions?