The last paragraph is extremely sad though: that it would require a new complicated drug, procedure or technology to overcome the forces present in the average person blocking it from having agency on this issue.

Maybe this problem points out to huge psychological (people that can't afford treatment or realize underlying mental problems that exarcebate the condition) or economical (a healthy lifestyle is more difficult to attain if you're constantly stressed to have minimal provisions or time) issues on society as a whole.

The difference is handing someone a bottle and saying "here this will go away quick!" Vs just generally having a better more emotionally aware society.

Some processes that are brains go through should be allowed and it should be accepted that they run their full natural course given that the human that has the brain is also being cared for and guided in some sort of way during this process and not just isolated and shunned away.

People with easy access to mental health care often think that they need treatment for whatever ails them. Similarly, people with the opportunity to worry about Big Problems and argue for whatever they believe (without consequence) often think that they need to have nasty, dehumanizing duels over temporary political phenomena that will be forgotten in a few years.

Nobody should be discouraged from finding help for their mental issues (or standing up for their beliefs), but at the same time they should understand that it may be a luxury and not a necessity.

Based on being around and close to many people with mental health problems (and, to some degree, based on my personal experience), a major problem is transitioning back into society after prolonged periods of 'problems' and/or therapy. Quite a number of them struggled for years to get back into some kind of 'normal' life, if they managed to do so at all.

In a few cases I've even wondered if they'd been better off not being treated and labeled and instead figuring out over time how to cope or deal with their problems in better ways.

It's like breaking a leg and - after it being fixed and healed - being sent home without any physical therapy or instructions on how to regain muscle strength, and everyone expects you to just get up and walk like they do.

Now, and I can't emphasize this enough, I'm not saying that therapy is a bad idea. In many cases it's absolutely necessary and in most cases it's the best we can do what with our limited understanding of the mind and the society/reality we live in.

But still, I wonder if the success rate of treatment for things like depression, addiction, and many other problems would be significantly higher if we put more effort into the rehabilitation process, both as 'caregivers' and as a society.

It's difficult to raise this issue without getting into the problem of the hyper-individualistic nature of (western) society though, which I think lies at the root of this issue (and perhaps at the root of many mental health issues). Perhaps we've prized and institutionalized freedom of choice and self-sufficiency so much that we forgot how to deal with those who, for various reasons, are unable to.

I think the problem is we've built a society though where it's so easy to end up sad and that needs fixed.

Would a mentally healthy, self-efficacious population be more or less likely realize their problems and organize collective action to correct their situation?

And, I'll add, there are manifold variances in personal experiences and circumstances.

Why? Well, among other things, and in a simple reduction: Because the physical world is a "hard" problem. And one that does not involve just the subject him-/her-self.

Actually, also, in my observation, often the "hard" part isn't a determination of what should or needs to be done. It's finding the resources to accomplish this.

For example, remove people from their circumstances and sources of -- often extreme -- stress! (Or, enable them to do this, once they elect to. And/or effectively deal with the sources, themselves -- as an individual, a community, a society, or whatever effective agency.)

Yeah, but...

So, you come up with, as a profession, professionally blessed compensation mechanisms and assignment of responsibility to the subject -- perhaps, the victim -- instead.

I'm not saying everyone does this. Nor that all cases reduce to it. But, it is well worth considering, as a part of the continuing problem of mental illness and its treatment.

As for modern therapies, I mean - depends? A lot of our modern illnesses also simply didn’t exist at the scale they do now.

Heart disease has been going up steadily in the past few centuries for example.

ADHD is an interesting one too. I have ADHD. For the vast majority of human history it probably won’t have been a big deal for my mental health, but it is now due to what’s expected of me.

I'm not saying the mental health field doesn't take into account external factors. It does especially psychology. I still think psychology overestimates how sick people are and underestimates how sick society is.

The inability to account for second-order effects seems to be a chronic failure of the large-scale systems we build. I wonder if it's because specialization means that nobody understands or is in charge of the big picture. A old-fashioned generalist "village doctor" would understand the context of your existence because they were also in your social circle, while a modern GP's role in your life is highly abstracted. Or take capitalism - if you're mono-focused on making Widgets, then you neither know nor care that Widgets are causing trouble somewhere else in the world, and you will fight viciously against anyone telling you to make fewer Widgets.

Maybe that's not the scientific method by your definition, but I'm not sure it matters.

And yes, I get that a lot of mental health problems are caused by problems in society. To extend your analogy, we're not the zookeepers, we're other chimpanzees. We're a lot smarter than monkeys so we even perhaps have a shot of escaping. But it is absolutely reasonable to try to help each other make the most of our lot.

So who care's what you call it, therapy is a way to help people have more fulfilling lives. Medications can be too.

but what do I know. kids today are put on Ritalin like it was candy, and everyone has to march in lockstep. If you don't you're lazy, or a bum. To quote Pulp Fiction:

VINCENT: So if you’re quitting the life, what’ll you do?

JULES: That’s what I’ve been sitting here contemplating. First, I’m gonna deliver this case to Marsellus. Then, basically, I’m gonna walk the earth.

VINCENT: What do you mean, walk the earth?

JULES: You know, like Caine in “KUNG FU.” Just walk from town to town, meet people, get in adventures.

VINCENT: How long do you intend to walk the earth?

JULES: Until God puts me where he want me to be.

VINCENT: What if he never does?

JULES: If it takes forever, I’ll wait forever.

VINCENT: So you decided to be a bum?

JULES: I’ll just be Jules, Vincent – no more, no less.

EDIT: ofc medicalizing the problem is what people do because that way they become the problem of a therapist, and we can sleep better because we know that a professional will look after them (it's easier to deal with them by just looking at their disease instead of the human behind the disease - "and anyway how could we possibly help somebody that far gone and who obviously doesn't even want to be helped").

For anyone who doesn't know this yet: German prisons (probably not just in Germany but other places in Europe) are full of homeless people that are there for not paying the tram/bus fare (often intentional in order to survive the colder months of the year).

Also for all the people who wonder how can anyone let themselves go so low and lie in the street with pants full of shit, it helps with not getting raped (it doesn't help though with avoiding being doused with lighter fluid and set on fire unfortunately).