'Life being stressful is not an illness' – GPs on mental health over-diagnosis

Is Stress Increasing or Just More Visible?

• Several argue more people genuinely have mental health problems, driven by inflation, housing crises, precarious work, and “polycrises” over the last 15+ years.
• Others counter that, by many material metrics (health, safety, poverty), life is better than in the past; they see a perception gap rather than a reality gap.
• There’s disagreement on data: some trust rising mental-illness metrics and suicide rates; others distrust long-term psychological statistics.

Stress vs Distress / What Counts as Harm

• Big subthread debates “stress” (chronic, diffuse pressures) vs “distress” (targeted personal harm).
• One side insists systemic discrimination and group-level targeting are a different, often lesser category than direct, personal campaigns of bullying/harassment.
• The other side calls this a “distinction without a difference” for health outcomes, emphasizing that subjective experience and vulnerability matter as much as objective circumstances.

Technology, Social Media, and Expectations

• Many blame chronic, low-level stress on always-on tech, screens, and social media–driven comparison and negativity.
• Some say social media use is an individual choice; others compare it to addictive vices, arguing regulation is needed.
• A recurring formula: “Happiness = reality − expectations”; social media and consumer culture inflate expectations, worsening mood even amid material comfort.

Economic and Structural Drivers (“Shit Life Syndrome”)

• Multiple comments highlight “shit life syndrome”: people given antidepressants for problems rooted in poverty, housing, bad jobs, and chaotic workplaces.
• Money is described as not sufficient for happiness but “necessary” to escape constant fear and precarity.
• Broader critiques target capitalism, extreme wealth concentration, and the idea that society is optimized for some people’s flourishing, not most.

Overdiagnosis, Labels, and Agency

• Some agree mental conditions are overdiagnosed, with nocebo effects and incentives (insurance, accommodations) encouraging “medicalization” of normal hardship.
• Examples are given of people embracing diagnoses (ADHD, anxiety, depression) as identity and blanket excuse, which others see as limiting growth.
• Others stress that diagnosis and medication can be life-changing, and that skepticism about overdiagnosis must not block treatment or invalidate suffering.

Community, Support Systems, and Responsibility

• Loss of family proximity, “third places,” and deep local ties is seen as a major stress amplifier; suggestions include more communal housing and walkable communities.
• Several say life’s inherent stress isn’t an illness, but a sick society can create real mental illness; responsibility is seen as shared among individuals, professionals, and political systems.