Gemma Spake

What I'm really saying is like,

if we actually had more funding for services, it wouldn't be a problem, right?

Because people would get the help they needed, whether that was a diagnosis or not.

Gatekeeping actually helps no one.

Like we would have a more accurate idea of how many people are dealing with mental health concerns and disorders and conditions, whether that is more or less, we would be able to help more people regardless of whether they had a diagnosis or not, regardless of what was going on.

If we concentrated on expanding mental health funding,

rather than focusing all of our attention on this larger debate about who counts and who doesn't.

Does that make sense?

Because I don't want this to come across as like, A, this isn't a problem, or B, that self-diagnosis is a problem.

We're just seeing such an uptick in demand because of all these factors and our governments being able to cope with that, not because of the people, not because it's people seeking help.

It's not their fault.

It's because

They just don't see it as a priority.

And I think that's where the big problem, just where this all comes down to and why so many people are forced to go looking for the language and forced to go looking for the explanations by themselves that perhaps gives them a less accurate picture of

or less access to the help they really need, and makes them deal with this in solitude and without actually somebody there to give them a clearer understanding of themselves.

Unfortunately as well, with this huge increase in demand for diagnosis and government systems that can't or won't step up, what we're also seeing is that private industries are looking to make a buck in this gap in the market.

And the role of these industries cannot be overstated.

Pharmaceutical companies are obviously the example a lot of us think of because they do want more people diagnosed by any means possible so that these people become consumers of their medications.

There is this documentary, I think it's called The Age of Anxiety, and it was made in 2012.

And it does an amazing job at investigating how Big Pharma has exploited the increasing demand for mental health support, regardless of what's best for the individual.