• October 30, 2025
• Center for Developmental Psychiatry

Why The Long Way Is Actually The Shortcut  by Dr. Jason Dean

We live in an era of quick fixes.

With the press of a button or the swipe of a screen, we can have dinner delivered, arrange our transportation, and even buy stocks.

When I was a kid, we actually went to stores, and receiving a package was a special treat.

Nowadays, I hate to say it, but two day shipping is beginning to seem way too slow.

What effect does the speeding up of our life have on our mental health and on our approach to getting better?
​
In many cases, we want what we want, and we want it now. And that applies to mental health as well.

But here’s the truth:
The long way is actually the shortcut.

The reality is that improvements in mental health, like many worthwhile things, are the product of a great deal of hard work.

Unfortunately, there are very few quick fixes in mental health because symptoms are simply the surface manifestation of a deeper issue.

Social anxiety, for example, is a symptom, where an individual may worry about rejection. But where does that worry come from?

​Does it stem from low self-esteem, from an internalized self-image of somebody who is unlovable or undesirable? Where does that image or self-concept come from?

Especially when we consider the impact that symptoms can have on childhood development, it is often the case that significant symptoms of ADHD, anxiety, or depression throughout childhood get baked into the developing personality of the child.

Unfortunately, these personality developments and underlying factors are difficult to change.

A medication may remove the symptom on the surface level, but the underlying concerns may still be there.

Now, of course it’s fantastic if we can lessen or even eliminate psychiatric symptoms with medication. Who wouldn’t want that?

But I would argue that that is only the beginning, not the end.

It is the beginning because the main benefit of reducing symptoms is that an individual can then get on with doing the hard work they need to do to improve their life and create a fulfilling existence.

As I often say, the absence of psychiatric symptoms does not equate a happy, fulfilling life.

The individual with social anxiety may experience a significant reduction in anxiety in social situations. But then what? Do they magically feel more desirable and worthwhile? Often, they don’t.

​But if they spend the next 6-12 months pushing themselves to socialize, create meaningful relationships, date, etc. then at the end of that process they might be an entirely different person.
​
​The medication did not cause that deeper change, but it facilitated it.

​The search for a pill that will fix all of our problems is a dead end.

​A plan whereby medication is used to lower the intensity of symptoms and facilitate a period of hard work and transformational change? That’s a winning combination.

​The irony is that when you accept that the path will be long and difficult, maybe between 6-24 months, then you can put your head down and do the work.

Then suddenly one day a year or two later you pick up your head and realize that your life is immeasurably better.

​However, those who want the shortcut, the quick fix, may kick the can down the road, and even 4-5 years later might be in exactly the same situation, or even worse.

​It is for this reason that the long way is actually the shortcut.

​In my experience, it is those people who truly accept this reality, as difficult as it may be, who derive the most benefit from treatment.

​It may be a difficult mindset shift, but, in my opinion, it could make the difference between kicking the can down the road and actually attaining the fulfillment and contentment we all desire.

If you’re ready to begin your own journey toward lasting change, we’d love to help.
Request an Appointment with one of our psychiatrists today.