Sky News Australia published this video item, entitled “The term ‘mental health’ is ‘colonising our private lives and public debate'” – below is their description.
Psychologist Dr Tanveer Ahmed says as much as it’s important to medicalise clinical disorders, the term mental health is colonising “more and more of, not just our private lives, but public debate”.
Mr Ahmed wrote a piece on Wednesday in the Australian Financial Review, warning of the dangers of a growing trend of over-medicalising mental health.
“Nobody is saying mental health is not an important problem, it’s a very important problem,” he said.
“What’s really going on… is just the day to day problems of living are increasingly having to be talked about in medical language.
“You’ll find right throughout this COVID-19 period… barely any policy that overlapped with social issues, had to be justified through mental health.”
“I feel like there’s more and more discussion about the term mental health.
“Even proclaiming pain and saying you’re marginalised has an element of status now.
“It’s like its not acceptable unless it is seen through the lens of mental health.
“We’re getting a narrower and narrower language to discuss the human experience.”
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Sky News Australia YouTube Channel
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