Once again another excellent post. I had to read it twice to try and digest all of it.
A big problem in modern society is that we seek instant fixes. Pharmaceutical companies are a big hindrance to the fields of psychology which dictate that certain events require individuals to develop coping mechanisms and skills to the ever changing challenges of life. I believe that, even though the DSM is accurate at identifying and diagnosing, the human component is too quick to suggest the use of medicine along with the latter (with this I mean they take own initiative).
This is illustrated with the case of Luca. The jump from therapeutic counselling to psychiatric intervention is swift, not necessarily justified (at the moment) and leaves Luca vulnerable to not develop healthy coping mechanisms, especially as a young adult.
Within the field of psychology and therapy there lacks a neurological component- therapists refer clients to psychiatrists yet the brain is never examined by a specialist before medication is prescribed. In my opinion, many professionals are "trigger happy" in prescribing meds. This is just my personal view but very prevalent in my country.
Parenting styles are very important: you mention repressive-coping styles. Where is this learnt? Repressive-coping styles foster mental disorders.
Working as a teacher I see this everyday. Parents raise their children to be entitled. This is conducive to a victim-mentality (which warrants a few paragraphs of its own, but I belief you'll be able to see my correlation here).
A person fostering a victim-mentality will struggle to work in a therapeutic environment where developing coping-skills and learning to take responsibility over thoughts and actions are the therapists main goal (especially when working with younger people).
Such a good post, this has given me so many ideas. This small block in which I write my replies make it difficult to track my train of thought. Hopefully this makes sense! There are so many points to respond on but I'll stop here as I'm starting to confuse myself, LOL!
Hello @rionpistorius, how great to see you here.
Your comment is absolutely stunning as it raises so many interesting points: our search for instant fixes, the way you got the message that drug intervention may put Luca's natural resilience at risk and the importance of a biological evaluation before the prescription of medication. But, of course, I was particularly drawn to your discussion about how children are being brought-up nowadays. I am not a parent, nor a teacher. However, this is something that I still see on a daily basis through cases in my own extended family. What you said about the sense of entitlement and victim-mentality are aspects that do permeate society nowadays. And you are right, this is something that only makes people's lives harder and harder as people just seem to credit themselves for the good things that happens to them and leave the difficulties for whatever is there to be pointed at.
So pleased to hear this post has given you ideas, I am already looking forward to seeing what you will be discussing next!
All the best to you always :)