Monica Ross

UT. Abnormal Psychology. Psych 352. 1994. First day: “Who here can define normal?” Decades later, Grinker’s Nobody’s Normal (2021) made the question feel even louder. We keep studying “abnormality” without ever agreeing on what normal is.

Some focus on diagnostic architecture. I’m working on the epistemology beneath it.

Biopsychosocial:
A framework. Human health and behavior as shaped by the interaction of three domains:
• Biological factors (genetics, physiology, neurobiology)
• Psychological factors (thoughts, emotions, beliefs, coping)
• Social factors (relationships, environment, culture, systems)

A plot of the repetition among the symptoms in the DSM-5 showing substantial overlap within and between chapters of diagnoses. 202 primary disorders and specifiers are represented, and diagnostic criteria have been split into a list of 1419 constituent symptoms. Each dot on the circumference is a symptom; its size represents symptom frequency. Lines linking symptoms map the repetition among diagnoses within and between chapters.

Just had our fondly nicknamed "pretty pictures" paper published in Psych Medicine: doi.org/10.1017/S003...

We mapped the repetition among the 1419 symptoms described in 202 diagnoses of adult psychopathology in Section II of the DSM-5, finding some cool results (and bad news for MDD) along the way.

Another place where classification shapes access is mental health law.
SB 1164 in Texas keeps the danger requirement but broadens how danger is inferred through “lack of insight.” Anosognosia codified.
Interpretive standards can be unevenly applied, especially to people without protection.

The old LGBTQ debates about who counted were never only about identity. They were about rights. Marriage. Protections. Safety. Stakes also feel high around diagnosing. Whenever rights hinge on a label, people draw tight lines. But lived experience is wider than the definitions built to contain it.

We can name a thing without ever capturing its essence. Yet the words we choose still enter the world and take on a reality of their own.

UT undergrad. Sociology. Reflecting back.
The Thomas Theorem kept echoing: what’s defined as real becomes real.
No wonder identity shifts when someone names your story before you can.

What’s wrong with you vs. What happened to you? Or What’s wrong with your brain? vs. How does your mind work? What do you need to thrive and what gets in the way?

When my nephew was three, he pointed to a moth and shouted “bird!” Either way, we still had to help it back out of the house. We often reach for the nearest name we have, the closest our understanding can offer at the time.

Much of my work sits in this space between clinical language and lived experience, where meaning is revised, reclaimed, or rewritten when the first naming doesn’t fit. Thank you for reading.

Picture of Lake Tahoe

My new essay in Please See Me explores the shadow side of a mental health diagnosis—the parts our diagnostic tools can’t hold and the slow work of finding language that truly fits.

#Nonfiction #NarrativeEthics #LivedExperience #MentalHealth #NarrativeMedicine

pleaseseeme.com/issue-17-fre...

The benefits of laughter: bsky.app/profile/psyc...

Clown School | Nuar Alsadir | Granta Magazine Nuar Alsadir went to clown school to research a book about laughter. Here's what she learned.

Here is one psychoanalyst's use of humor in writing by poking fun at how uncomfortable a first day at class can be...sometimes. granta.com/clown-school/

YouTube video by Dr. Russ Harris - Acceptance Commitment Therapy Internal Struggles (The Chessboard Metaphor) by Dr. Russ Harris

Here is something from ACT. It speaks to the dialectic, also key to DBT. Even IFS uses this approach--"there is a part of me that feels"... Some mistake this for ambiguity. It is more about synthesis. Internal Struggles (The Chessboard Metaphor) by Dr. Russ Harris www.youtube.com/watch?v=phbz...

Hi 👋, I’m Monica. I’m cautiously exploring Bluesky to see if it feels like the right fit. I’m a licensed therapist with an interest in digital health technology—something I view as both a powerful tool and a complex challenge. Excited to connect and explore here!