sbfriedman Wrote: Tricky question. Yes, people should be aware of REAL mental health disorders, the signs, and the proper treatments. But, at the same time, over-educating the public can lead to paranoia, self-doubt, and can turn us all in to potential pharmacological guinea pigs. It's like those commercials, "Do you wake up tired?? Do you get upset easily?? Well, then you could have ________. You should try _________. Side effects are: __________________,_________________,___________,________________,and __________________. A lot of people go through this world with some kind of disorder, whether it be an acute personality disorder, some kind of OCD, ADD, ADHD, off again on again depression, etc. The list is endless. But, my question is, are these really disorders that need to be treated? Or, are they just a part of life? I feel we are too quick to medicate because, well life is messy and we don't like to see the uglier sides of it. So, as the well-oiled machine that are society has become, mental health issues scare us and make us sad. The easy answer is medication, risky medication at that. I'll jump off my soap box in just one more second. Let's say you are the one with a "mental health disorder". The more that we research and categorize, the more that that is an actual possibility. What if "they" or "the collective we" decide that the particular disorder you have is one that you can't control yourself, like extreme OCD for instance? Should you be locked up, drugged up and forgotten about? My point is that it's a terrifying thing to let people start paying too much attention to "mental health disorders". I agree that it is a field that should be looked into for the very unhealthy. But there is too much wiggle room in there for profit. Profit from drugs, profit from therapy, etc. People's opinions on "crazy" or "mentally-handicapped" should be kept at a very strict, hard to obtain level for the true "mentally-ill". Then again, I may have read Aldous Huxley's, "Brave New World" one too many times. ""A gramme is better than a damn," said Lenina mechanically from behind her hands. "I wish I had my soma!" "