Disorders of the mind

We now know that the mind is for meeting our needs in the outside world. We become aware of these needs through feelings, so disorders of the mind are either related to feelings, or to the way we respond to these feelings.

We are not born knowing how to meet our needs (how to deal with feelings). First, our parents or caregivers meet our needs for us, and later we learn how to do this for ourselves. Once we have learnt how to meet our own needs, we no longer have to be conscious of what we’ve learnt and the responses become automatised.

What about problems that can’t be solved? When problems are too difficult for us to deal with, we suppress the feelings associated with these problems and develop prematurely automatised solutions. These are illegitimate solutions to a problem that hasn’t yet been worked out in a realistic way, and this is how mental disorders arise.

Treating these disorders can involve psychoanalytical therapy which brings those uncomfortable feelings / problems back to mind and allows the patient to come up with more appropriate solutions to deal with them. Sometimes the feelings are too difficult to deal with and psychopharmacological treatment is needed to suppress the feelings themselves – however this approach is symptomatic rather than curative.