The emotional spectrum

A Facebook status from the other day:

Moods, mental states, emotions, feelings (negative and positive) exist on a spectrum. Human beings can experience any and all of the spectrum. It’s not an illness to feel shitty, even really heinously shitty, sometimes. It’s also not abnormal to get confused about the vast content of our psyches. This confusion can play out in numerous ways. Our society likes to pathologize these varieties of confusion. The DSM might be considered the book of pathologizing the human experience.

In fact given the state of humanity and the planet it’s a healthy sign to be struck quite heavily at least some of the time by the seriousness of our times. We need only learn to be with ourselves — body, mind and spirit. That is what, as a species, we’ve forgotten. It’s what we need to relearn and it’s what we need to teach our children.

More posts on topic from Beyond Meds:

• Reality is the full spectrum

• On Staying Sane in a Suicidal Culture

• Let your pain tell you that you are not alone

• Neurotoxins in our environment threaten our brains, bodies and the planet

• Transforming despair

• How I deal with mental breakdowns

• Everything Matters