Maybe it's simple

I think all mental illness and anxiety can be summed up in one word. That is "chemical". With our brains being a cauldron of norepinephrine, serotonin, and other key chemical, I would submit that people with mental illness have an unfair excess of certain brain chemicals. As somebody that always want more and more perhaps I'll take a backseat and allow you to cut the line.

Hi, jackblack. I agree that brain chemicals are associated with mental illness and anxiety.

There is no absolute proof its all a chemical imbalance.

this very much.

Yes, our reactions and life are "chemical" if you want to simplify and dehumanize. But doesn't mean they are necessary some "illness".

And in no way will throwing chemicals at the person "cure". If it was so, we'd just go to doc, popped some chemicals and go happily on with our lives (and they would be magically meaningful). There wouldn't be communities like this....

"simple" is one word that shouldn't be ever used when talking about mental heatlh or matters of soul.

This is just my personal experience but Therapy has done more to improve my mental illnesses than any of the medications that I have been on.

I believe that for some people it's all a chemical imbalance, for others it is all trauma/situational/upbringing and for others it's a combination of the two.

I think I know what you're saying. My point is that mental illness is nothing that you or I would ask for. I cannot pick my skin color. You cannot pick your eyecolor. Neither of us can pick the parents from which we came. As a result I feel that my chemical makeup was beyond my control. This line of thinking helps me personally to live free of guilt and shame and allows me to work consistently to improve my condition.
I agree with Mike_J as well about the trauma or upbringing also playing a key role. How I don't know ...but DEFINITELY!

You can live without shame without subscribing to unproven theories.... or thinking of yourself as broken or chemically imbalanced.

Hello, JackBlack.

Mental Illness is Not Simply a Brain Disease

I wish you well.

I think brain chemicals certainly play a role in mental illness, but there are other factors as well, so its probably not quite so simple.

what if the trauma/situational/upbringing negatively effects brain chemistry? Likewise what if for some people therapy helps repair the negatively effected brain chemistry.....while for others medications are more useful, and for a lot a combination can work best....then of course there are herbal remedies and other sorts of things that can help somewhat.

Mental illness should be guilt free. But that has nothing to do with origin. If you have the genetics for something and it breaks through, not your fault, if you grow up in an abusive home but have pretty decent genes but get messed up mentally, it's not your fault either.

Those people assigning fault need a good whipping.

The only thing you are asked to do is deal with what you have, the best you can, but the same holds true for those who are physically ill or have been in accidents. And yea this also includes it should not be assumed your best is something superheroish, but literally your best.