From what I recall, in earlier days, mental health wasn’t seen as real as physical health. You had sick days for when you were sick sure, but when people used them as mental health days, it definitely raised eyebrows, and people thought it was really malingering. If you were taking a day off for day of adventures (known in Australia as ‘chucking a sickie’) you were better off just saying you were sick without going into the specifics. I also think, when someone really really hated their work, it manifested as somatic illnesses too; often back pain or carpal tunnel.
Now, people are more likely to say, to themselves, to their doctor, to their employer, this is a mental health issue. And having a day of adventures, or staying at home watching Netflix, is self-care.
One of my favourite lines from the Drew Carey Show is Drew giving sarcastic sympathy to a friend. “Oh, you hate your job? There’s a support group for that. It’s called ‘Everyone.’ They meet at the bar.”
How does this work now, when we have sick leave, long-term disability, and government disability benefits? Can anyone just say, my job is mentally unhealthy I need long-term disability? Is the doctor supposed to be a gatekeeper for this? If there’s a test for it, is it anything other than asking over and over again if you’re really too stressed by your job.
Depression tests, as far as I can tell, are just surveys where they ask you in different ways if you’re depressed “are you suicidal? Are you too sad to sleep? Do you feel hopeless?”
But if everyone hates their jobs… and a lot of people are at least someone what motivated to get paid to not work… and isn’t everyone more mentally well if they’re not at work… what is happening now with our sick leave systems? In the future?
I believe this is contributing to expansion of MH diagnoses. We've decided that psychosocial problems are not "legitimate" or worthy of special treatment unless they legitimized by a healthcare professional.
If you get bored moving digits around spreadsheets, you get yourself assessed for ADHD. If you lack self-confidence, you get yourself assessed for anxiety. When half the kids in the class are on ILPs, are they really neurodivergent or are their parents better at playing the meta-game?