What really causes someone to feel 'meh'

So you’re not feeling great about life, huh?

Newsflash: you’re not special or unique. I mean sure you are, but no more unique than each snowflake a Chicagoan shovels off their driveway this time of year…

We love quick fixes and feeling empowerment from the perception of understanding. We love a good label to slap onto our neurological state in order to compartmentalize what has us feeling so down.

Ok, so here’s my hot take… The problem is not ADHD, it isn’t narcolepsy, it isn’t any one label or mental diagnosis (maybe it is for some people, but maybe it isn’t for others idk). My point is that, while some people definitely have fucked up neurological wiring that causes their wellbeing to go awry despite best practices in regards to mental health, I think a substantial percentage of these ‘labels’ are indicative of something deeper.

I hate how these labels seem to obfuscate what’s really causing negative “symptoms” to arise in someone’s life.

Invariably, the problem is lack of human connection, not having anything to look forward to or enjoy on a daily basis, lacking stimulating relationships, being in pain, things like that.

So, the solution is then to spend more time around people you love, spend less time sitting and be more active, work toward a goal that is exciting instead of demoralizing, things like that.

Sometimes I wonder if if it might potentially be somewhat plausible to suggest the possibility that perhaps these labels exist in part because it might be more profitable to treat them than to prescribe friendship, physical movement, and intellectual stimulation.

I think maybe friendship, physical movement, and intellectual stimulation are out of perceived reach for some, so they pay for the perception of a remedy. This is systemic when institutions are incentivized to train professionals to diagnose and prescribe in this manner.

That’s not to say that institutions are inherently bad, because actually they are likely mostly good. But, it is to say that maybe some negative consequences exist despite the overwhelming benefit that comes form them. Remember: in a consumer capitalist economy, the most (non-generational) wealth is generated within in-between spaces which are often overlooked.