Why Self-Care Isn't Enough

"These diagnoses take on a life of their own when we try to treat "the anxiety" instead of addressing the problem it's attempting to signal."

"We can't be healthy by only trying to feel better in a sick world. We need to make a better world through actions that fix the problems that keep making us sick."

"The stresses harming our health aren't isolated: they're all connected. When one system collapses-whether our health, social systems, global relations, or ecosystems-the entire system collapses, not just within our own bodies and borders, but for the whole world."

People seek help for anxiety, depression, addictions, and other labels that do not fully explain why suffering occurs. Diagnoses can take on a life of their own when treatment focuses on “the anxiety” instead of the underlying problem it signals. Mental health challenges are often symptoms of wider systems that are out of balance, including bodies, social worlds, communities, countries, geopolitical relations, and ecosystems. Distress functions as an alarm that indicates dynamic systems needing attention and care. Health cannot be achieved by only trying to feel better in a sick world; it requires actions that address the problems producing harm. Self-help alone can bandage symptoms without stopping the source of bleeding, especially as global crises intensify and systems collapse together.

Read at Psychology Today