Uploaded April 2023 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago
It seems like, in Western culture at least, we went from a place where, years ago, mental health issues were never talked about and often dismissed or hushed, to a place today, where it's so ubiquitous to talk about mental health. And while it’s important that mental health is de-stigmatized, and a good thing that it’s been relatively de-pathologized, in many ways, it has shifted into some kind of identity marker, almost like a sense of identity for people. Mental health categories are becoming a way for people to seek and find meaning about who they are as a person. But this can be dangerous in that people are so much more than just the labels affiliated with their mental health.
With the growing absence of religious and national identities, other identities have come into place in extraordinary ways. In this episode, Sasha and Stella explore society’s evolving tendency to rush to medicalize for quick and radical fixes for generally normal experiences. They discuss obsession with identity labels, and the desperate pathologizing of normal distress, medication seeking, relentless pursuit of the external solution for an internal problem.
Please note this episode was recorded before the release of Stella’s book (which she speaks about being released ‘soon’). The link for where you can find her book is included below. This episode was also recorded before Detrans Awareness Day 2023 took place, but was released after the events referenced in the episode. Please visit youtu.be/my5o0B9H4Tw to watch the replay of the entire 2023 Detrans Awareness Day webinar event.
Links:
Genspect’s School Policy Guide: Establishing expectations for how schools can best support students with gender dysphoria, who are gender-questioning, who are gender non-conforming, or identify as transgender
genspect.org/comprehensive-gender-identity-school-policy-usa
The Five Ecological Systems
simplypsychology.org/Bronfenbrenner.html
Interview w Allen Frances, MD:
madinamerica.com/2019/05/conversations-critical-psychiatry-allen-frances-md
Stella’s Latest Book - What Your Teen Is Trying To Tell You
geni.us/whatyourteen
Detrans Awareness Day Website
detransawareness.org
2023 Detrans Awareness Day Webinar Recording
youtu.be/my5o0B9H4Tw
If you liked this episode, more episodes you might find interesting:
19 - ADHD & Gender Dysphoria
youtu.be/BFY5AXmYP5w
29 - Conversion Therapy: A Conversation with Bob Withers
youtu.be/Sqk9YgspWcI
82 - ASD & Gender: Who am I? with Dr. Tony Attwood
youtu.be/J_fmzySfHLY
106 — Detransition Awareness: Beyond Identity & Political Narratives
youtu.be/8qlPpABb578
Please visit widerlenspod.com to explore more content, access additional resources, or to join our listener community.
To learn more about our sponsors, visit:
GETA: genderexploratory.com
ReIME: rethinkime.org
Genspect: genspect.org
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and some talk about Stella’s book
03:10 Talk about Detrans Awareness Day
08:35 Today’s Topic: Pathologizing Normal
12:37 The Concept Creep of Mental Health Labels
18:30 An Issue of Diagnostic Inflation
23:00 Is this a response to losing our religion?
27:00 How does one interact with a diagnosis in a healthy way?
34:57 Don’t narrow yourself with an identity label
37:50 Is there a mental health crisis among adolescents?
47:00 What about DID and MPD?
59:00 Something has gone wrong with the language around mental health
It seems like, in Western culture at least, we went from a place where, years ago, mental health issues were never talked about and often dismissed or hushed, to a place today, where it's so ubiquitous to talk about mental health. And while it’s important that mental health is de-stigmatized, and a good thing that it’s been relatively de-pathologized, in many ways, it has shifted into some kind of identity marker, almost like a sense of identity for people. Mental health categories are becoming a way for people to seek and find meaning about who they are as a person. But this can be dangerous in that people are so much more than just the labels affiliated with their mental health.
With the growing absence of religious and national identities, other identities have come into place in extraordinary ways. In this episode, Sasha and Stella explore society’s evolving tendency to rush to medicalize for quick and radical fixes for generally normal experiences. They discuss obsession with identity labels, and the desperate pathologizing of normal distress, medication seeking, relentless pursuit of the external solution for an internal problem.
Please note this episode was recorded before the release of Stella’s book (which she speaks about being released ‘soon’). The link for where you can find her book is included below. This episode was also recorded before Detrans Awareness Day 2023 took place, but was released after the events referenced in the episode. Please visit youtu.be/my5o0B9H4Tw to watch the replay of the entire 2023 Detrans Awareness Day webinar event.
Links:
Genspect’s School Policy Guide: Establishing expectations for how schools can best support students with gender dysphoria, who are gender-questioning, who are gender non-conforming, or identify as transgender
genspect.org/comprehensive-gender-identity-school-policy-usa
The Five Ecological Systems
simplypsychology.org/Bronfenbrenner.html
Interview w Allen Frances, MD:
madinamerica.com/2019/05/conversations-critical-psychiatry-allen-frances-md
Stella’s Latest Book - What Your Teen Is Trying To Tell You
geni.us/whatyourteen
Detrans Awareness Day Website
detransawareness.org
2023 Detrans Awareness Day Webinar Recording
youtu.be/my5o0B9H4Tw
If you liked this episode, more episodes you might find interesting:
19 - ADHD & Gender Dysphoria
youtu.be/BFY5AXmYP5w
29 - Conversion Therapy: A Conversation with Bob Withers
youtu.be/Sqk9YgspWcI
82 - ASD & Gender: Who am I? with Dr. Tony Attwood
youtu.be/J_fmzySfHLY
106 — Detransition Awareness: Beyond Identity & Political Narratives
youtu.be/8qlPpABb578
Please visit widerlenspod.com to explore more content, access additional resources, or to join our listener community.
To learn more about our sponsors, visit:
GETA: genderexploratory.com
ReIME: rethinkime.org
Genspect: genspect.org
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and some talk about Stella’s book
03:10 Talk about Detrans Awareness Day
08:35 Today’s Topic: Pathologizing Normal
12:37 The Concept Creep of Mental Health Labels
18:30 An Issue of Diagnostic Inflation
23:00 Is this a response to losing our religion?
27:00 How does one interact with a diagnosis in a healthy way?
34:57 Don’t narrow yourself with an identity label
37:50 Is there a mental health crisis among adolescents?
47:00 What about DID and MPD?
59:00 Something has gone wrong with the language around mental health
