I think you're applying an extremely narrow and inconsistent criteria for deciding what is and is not a disease. Humanity as a whole, in the modern era, does not know how to treat mental health issues very well. We don't know what causes them, and we don't know how to fix them. Yes, for the most part, it's guessing. That's why there is no strictly scientific diagnosis system. But that doesn't mean there isn't a physical cause, It also doesn't matter a hill of beans to anyone that needs treatment for or treats mental illness. And neither is this distinction true for all mental illnesses, nor is it limited to mental illness, nor is it criteria for excluding an illness as a disease.
You're also misunderstanding the role that treatments for mental illness play. Psychoanalysis, meditation, medication, many of our current treatments for many mental illnesses do not cure you. Neither do most of the drugs we use for other, infectious diseases. It's akin to taking cough syrup when you have a cold; it just masks the symptoms until the disease goes away. Valtrax doesn't cure herpes, it just pushes it down and out of the way so the sufferer can live a more normal life. Cutting out cancer doesn't necessarily cure you of it.
The entire notion of "cure" is specious to begin with. There aren't any magic potions you can drink that restore your HP and get you back into battle. The only thing that makes sense to talk about is treatment. Treatment varies between all diseases, all patients, and over time for that patient.
For me, getting enough sleep, eating well, and staying hydrated properly are all parts of my treatment for depression and anxiety. They don't cure. I can have a bummed out day where I don't want to get out of bed even if I've been taking care of myself perfectly, just the same as I can still get a cold if I'm washing my hands religiously. But if I don't keep up with taking care of myself, it happens significantly more often.
The problem is that there are people who are suffering who could be treated and they are not seeking treatment because of social stigmas around treatment.
You're also misunderstanding the role that treatments for mental illness play. Psychoanalysis, meditation, medication, many of our current treatments for many mental illnesses do not cure you. Neither do most of the drugs we use for other, infectious diseases. It's akin to taking cough syrup when you have a cold; it just masks the symptoms until the disease goes away. Valtrax doesn't cure herpes, it just pushes it down and out of the way so the sufferer can live a more normal life. Cutting out cancer doesn't necessarily cure you of it.
The entire notion of "cure" is specious to begin with. There aren't any magic potions you can drink that restore your HP and get you back into battle. The only thing that makes sense to talk about is treatment. Treatment varies between all diseases, all patients, and over time for that patient.
For me, getting enough sleep, eating well, and staying hydrated properly are all parts of my treatment for depression and anxiety. They don't cure. I can have a bummed out day where I don't want to get out of bed even if I've been taking care of myself perfectly, just the same as I can still get a cold if I'm washing my hands religiously. But if I don't keep up with taking care of myself, it happens significantly more often.
The problem is that there are people who are suffering who could be treated and they are not seeking treatment because of social stigmas around treatment.