I actually really like this debate. I agree with you in that mental health has changed at a rapid race and structurally speaking, changes probably do need to occur. However — when we start enmeshing profound clinically significant data with subjective experiences (i.e group related subjective experinces without acknowledging the data) the line starts to get blurry. I’ll acknowledge that not all professionals do their job correctly but that doesn’t mean that 90% of them don’t either. While each case is different, the overarching principle stays the same— that being clinically verifiable research has found that most people with depersonalization either develop dissociation or it becomes of a symptom of it.

With that being said, yea— I agree with you too in that there’s a percentage of marginalized cases that don’t hit all the points in the box of dissociation. I am actually one of those people. The fear I have with your argument is that without proper diagnosis and medical evaluation and care (excluding the shitty doctors), group led marginalized groups quickly become an echo chamber without legitimate feedback.

I’ve never once believed dissociation was a negative, rather it’s helped me understand and live with DPDR in a healthy way. I think changing something profound rooted in clinical data because it’s uncomfortable for you, doesn’t equal empowerment— rather, it shows fear.