^Perhaps some of the distinction arises because of the difference between a condition which requires (and responds to) treatments from outside the body, and a condition which requires response from INSIDE the body. How do we call both types a disease? Even on these threads, we can see that people blame those with a condition requiring response from inside the body for their negative outcome, while the same people would never blame an individual with, say cancer, for their bad outcome.
Some conditions “outside the brain” can be treated or controlled with environmental or dietary factors. On molecular level, all illnesses are similar - there is something that went wrong in the “normal” pathways. The problem is that despite the growing body of research, we still do not have a good understanding of what pathways are in imbalance when the brain is affected. Add to that the fact that the brain is more impermeable to drugs than Fort Knox, and the problem is magnified substantially…
I suffer from depression. My illness requires medication and therapy to hold it at bay. It can be aggravated by situations or just a “bad day” that may not trouble anyone else. I spent my teenage years having my parents tell me snap out of it, quit feeling sorry for myself, and cheer up. It does not work. I fought treatment for many years, allowing it only when faced with a situation when I felt a “normal” person would have a similar response to mine. Therapy allowed me to see that I am a normal person, my brain is just wired a bit differently and I need a chemical boost to keep that black dog out of my brain. I used to self medicate with food. Now I practice self care with a healthy diet, exercise, therapy and medication because I have an illness.
Now it’s time for a run which I need badly. Have a good day, y’all.
Folks blame people for cancer all the time. They ate wrong. They smoked. They were sedentary. They were out in the sun too much/not enough. They had X in their house or used Y on their bodies.
Sometimes their reasoning makes sense from what we know (smoking, etc) and other times it doesn’t (my mom’s esophageal cancer since she’s NOT and never was a smoker nor heavy drinker), but that doesn’t stop folks from looking for what “she” did.
I think as humans we look for reasons to try to convince ourselves we won’t have cancer come to ourselves.
My brain tumor is benign (so not considered cancer) and oodles of people have mused about what caused it.
I can easily see all sorts of mental conditions being in the same boat.
Humans don’t like not knowing or being able to control such things.