Ow @leaky20, even if your comments were long-winded I wouldn't mind reading them again and again :) They are always very insightful, constructive and informative.

I think that something else that makes the issue of mental health all the more challenging is that emotional states and clinical diagnoses often get intermixed together almost as if they are synonymous with each other, even though they are not necessarily the same thing.

I see this as a consequence of us (society) having "technicalized" suffering, and turned sadness and fear into pathologies that necessarily need treatment. What Buddhists and existentialists say about this? I wonder.

I appreciate very much that you brought the DSM criteria to this discussion. I have come across many people who are just dead against it. I am not, and for the very reasons you pointed out here. For example criteria that highlights what should be carefully taken into account when a certain diagnosis is considered.

The diagnosis of mental illness is indeed a very delicate topic.

And the illustration you used here, the public frustration with a possible diagnosis for extreme video-gaming, just shows how concepts that regard and involve mental health are misunderstood. But what to expect when society is heading towards a place where all excesses (gaming, shopping, eating etc...) have just become the norm? Oh well ... :)

socuety tends to talk about mental health in terms of feelings and emotions.

I am going to take the above remark away with me. It's a great, great one!

Thank you very much @leaky20 for always taking the time to stop by and share with us here your experience and knowledge. Thank you also for your humbling words and constant support.

All the best to you & your wife.