Rethinking Mental Health: Embracing the "Choose Your Own Adventure" Metaphor

In my last post, I touched on how viewing mental health through a strict medical lens can hold back progress. The medical model labels things as healthy or unhealthy, good or bad, and this binary thinking just doesn’t fit when it comes to mental health. (And yes, even the term "mental health" has its issues, but let’s tackle one thing at a time.) Today, I want to introduce a different metaphor: think of mental health as a "choose your own adventure" story.

Everything Tells a Story

Everything we do, feel, and think carries meaning. It might be a small detail or something significant, but it all contributes to the story we're living. It can be exhausting to stay on top of everything, and it’s tempting to dismiss some things as meaningless. But here’s the good news: we’re not trying to write a story or determine its meaning; we’re here to listen to the story being told.

The words we use, the tension in our muscles, the way we look or avoid looking, the emotions we feel or suppress, the intensity of those emotions, our behaviors, our thoughts, our levels of engagement—they all tell a story. Often, the real story isn’t just what's on the surface. In therapy, we’re trained to listen to everything, not just the spoken narrative. We call this "process vs. content." For example, you might say one thing, but your hand gestures might reveal something different.

Moving Beyond the Medical Model

Using the medical model can increase the risk of shame. Why? Because getting curious about something can trigger a fear that we’ll find something "faulty" or "unhealthy." But if we approach it like a psychotherapy model—where we listen for the story without judgment and assume everything that surfaces is normal given the context—there is no right or wrong. This frees us to remain curious and keep listening.

In Somatic Experiencing work, this might lead to noticing imagery, movements, or sensations. In psychotherapy, it might bring greater insight and clarity.

The Therapist as a Curious Companion

This isn’t a “gotcha” approach. The therapist isn’t an expert who sees what you can’t. They are a curious companion who might notice something and wonder about it with you. By listening to the story your body-mind is telling, without trying to force it into a specific framework, we can follow the adventure your system chooses. This is what ultimately leads to feeling better.

So, let’s ditch the rigid medical model and embrace the idea that mental health is like a choose your own adventure story. By listening to our stories and staying curious, we open up the path to genuine understanding and healing.

Two Common Misconceptions About Mental Health and How to Overcome Them

Hey there! Let's talk about two common misconceptions about mental health that can really get in the way of making real progress:

Misconception 1: Treating Symptoms Instead of the Root Cause

We often mistake the symptoms of mental health issues for the problem itself. So, we end up trying to manage these symptoms—like negative thoughts, anxiety, or depression—instead of digging deeper to understand what they actually represent. For example, these symptoms might be rooted in traumatic memories that have shaped how we respond to situations in the present. If we only focus on managing the symptoms, we're not addressing the underlying issues that cause them.

Misconception 2: Using Medical Metaphors for Mental Health

Another big misunderstanding comes from how we talk about mental health. You’ve probably heard people say, "I have anxiety" or "I have depression," like it’s something they’ve caught, similar to "I have a cold" or "I have a broken bone." This medical language implies that these mental states are static and abnormal, but that’s not really the case. Anxiety and depression are important and natural states that everyone experiences to some extent, and they fluctuate over time.

Even chronic states of suffering often indicate that the nervous system is responding exactly as it should, based on past trauma. The system is on high alert or shut down because it's unconsciously using old, trauma-based information to navigate current situations, which might not be helpful unless that same historical trauma is happening again.

The Bigger Picture

Of course, mental health is complex, and there are exceptions to these ideas. But generally speaking, shifting our focus from just managing symptoms to understanding and addressing their root causes, and rethinking how we conceptualize mental health, can make a big difference in our approach to healing and change.

If we want Mental health we need a bigger imagination Than Medicine Gives Us