Everyone Is Mentally Ill

A boogeyman is an imaginary evil creature with supernatural powers.

The idea of a boogeyman character has pervaded cultures in the form of stories and folklore all around the world for centuries.

The exact name given to a boogeyman, or the nature of their evil doings, varies across stories and cultures. But the core idea behind the boogeyman, and what makes them so frightening, is usually the same:

They are a force that cannot be stopped. They cannot be overcome.

If the boogeyman is out to get you, he will find you. You may attempt to run, protect yourself with the company of others, or take individual arms, but every effort will ultimately be in vain.

Because if the boogeyman is out to get you, he will succeed.

It is the very unstoppable nature of the boogeyman that makes him supernaturally scary. Human beings, even with their best tools and technology, are no match for him.

Depression and other diseases of the mind have become the modern-day boogeymen.

This is where Buddhism makes an interesting claim on the state of mind of all human beings:

Everyone is mentally ill.

The reflexive response of many will be to scoff at such a statement.

If a Buddhist came up to you and made this claim, how would you react? Would you just politely nod in the name of respecting the beliefs of others?

Of course, in your head, you know this claim is ridiculous, but you have no interest in causing offence or beginning a fruitless argument.

To each their own.

But is the idea that everyone is mentally ill so ridiculous? Of course, in the realm of medicine, certain mental illnesses have distinct characteristics. Those with bipolar disorder exhibit extreme mood swings — almost as though they are shifting between the personalities of two different people. Others suffer from post traumatic stress disorder and are liable to experience aggravating nightmares.

When the Buddhists say everyone is mentally ill, it is not necessarily to suggest everyone suffers from some sort of mental disorder with acute characteristics that are neatly defined by medicine with a specific name.

The claim can instead be thought of as a reference to the general state of mind of human beings.

You may smile and say thank you to the barista as you collect your cup of coffee. You may sit and laugh with your friends at the park. You may cuddle with your partner as you tuck into a Friday night movie.

But appearances are just that: Appearances. Everything appears normal, stable, and fine. But the only thing that actually counts is the thing going on in your mind. That is the be-all and end-all.

Your entire experience of life is the one your mind produces.

I make a point of stressing the distinction between appearances and the mind, because one may observe society and dismiss the claim that everyone is mentally ill. Indeed, if you look out into the world, how can you make such a conclusion? If everyone is mentally ill, how are we all managing our 9-to-5 jobs, families, and general life?

If everyone is mentally ill, wouldn’t people seem more… off? More sad? Less functional?

Things, on the whole, seem pretty normal. Sure, you’ll occasionally come across someone battling extreme depression, hear about awful crimes, and see questionable behaviours that must find their source in some deep mental disturbance. But these sorts of findings are the exception rather than the rule, right?

Depression and general anxiety is often viewed through the lens of a medical disease. It’s like having influenza: You either have this infection in your system, or you don’t. If have influenza, then you will experience its symptoms: A high temperature, a sore throat, and a runny nose.

In all of human history, there has never been a time when everyone has had it.

But everyone does have a mind. And, no matter what appearances might suggest, everyone suffers from the problems of the mind.

The claim that everyone is mentally ill is pithy one because it reframes problems like depression and anxiety from something that exists on a binary scale, to something which exists on a spectrum.

I think it is a most-wise observation.

Everyone is wrapped in some sort of identity — some idea of who they are. Human beings then live their lives then reacting to, and experiencing things, in relation to how the events of their life fare in conjunction with their constructed self.

If you observe the people around you carefully, you find depression, anxiety, and mental illness everywhere. The things people obsess over, cry over, fret over.

The plans people make. The way they treat others. The things they do.

Everything is driven by the engine of this thing you call your mind. And everyone’s mind is somewhat diseased. Everyone

Is mentally ill.

Is the claim really so preposterous? Isn’t the average person just normal and average?

But in this day and age, what is a normal life?

The normal person feels some sense of disturbance when their pictures don’t get as many likes or comments. The normal person will spend time every day fixating on the lives of other people. The normal person is liable to fall into a pit of despair if the person they romanticise about doesn’t like them back. The normal person will become bitter if someone more junior gets promoted before them.

A normal person’s life is riddled with an endless list of problems. A normal person lives their day jumping from one anxiety-ridden moment to the next.

Yet, we are too high on pride to accept the idea that there is something wrong with us. That there is something deeply and inherently flawed with how we view ourselves and the events of our lives.

This, however, should not come as a surprise. Indeed, if we could recognise just how ill we really are,

We probably wouldn’t be embroiled in such turmoil.

There is no need to agree or disagree with the statement

Everyone is mentally ill.

Certainly, I for one have no desire to convince you of anything.

But perhaps it is worth assessing how you yourself experience the moments of your life. Is this what life is really meant to be like,

Or, are you just ill?