The role of the body in mental Illness distress
Campaigns working to reduce stigma (whose aims I wholeheartedly support) have likened mental health problems to a broken arm, arguing that mental and physical health should be seen as equal. It’s a totally reasonable idea. However recovery from a physical injury is, often like the cause, a reasonably straight forward, individual, process. The same is not true of mental distress and so the analogy, while well intentioned, is not really accurate or helpful.