What You Don’t See
The problem with psychiatric diseases is that it’s about what you see.
You don’t see what you don’t see.
You don’t see all the hugs that prevent depression.
You don’t see all the conversations that prevent anxiety.
You don’t see ordinary people helping someone unintentionally out of a psychosis—simply by coping the way they do, by how they approach life.
Ninety-nine percent of psychiatric disease is already prevented—quietly, invisibly.
The best way to get out of any psychiatric illness is to surround yourself with normal people (as far as that exists). Copy the things they do well.
It’s this invisible herd that guides the rest to the other side. Everybody makes tons of mistakes. That’s normal. Everybody loses their mind sometimes. That’s normal.
So look out for each other a little bit.
Things are going well, you say?
Now you turn off your phone. After a few weeks, the mist in your head is gone. Suddenly, there is optimism. You’re no longer bombarded with dark things—the news, the noise. You can focus again. Your anxiety is gone. You see the sunset, other people. You start to read. You smile on the inside.
Do you know this situation?
You’re talking to someone about work. The other person has a problem.
You say, “I would do this or that.”
Then the other person responds, “Yes, but it’s a 32-year-old man who likes…,” and gradually more and more information is added, making the decision increasingly difficult and nuanced.
This happens often. Everything seems binary when you look at it superficially, but the more specific information you have, the harder it becomes—and the more you understand each other.