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31 votes
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I have a massive gripe with reductive "politicization" of mental health
Before we start, no, I don't mean "bring politics into" mental health. Politics obviously covers mental health issues, practices, and institutions. However, I've come to realize a certain approach...
Before we start, no, I don't mean "bring politics into" mental health. Politics obviously covers mental health issues, practices, and institutions. However, I've come to realize a certain approach to mental health has taken root in discussions around mental health. This approach is based on the criticism of mental health from an ideological point. It centers on the idea that mental health is treated only as a chemical imbalance in the brain, and that sociopolitical conditions aren't considered. One of the most prominently figures cited for this is Mark Fisher.
“The current ruling ontology denies any possibility of a social causation of mental illness. The chemico-biologization of mental illness is of course strictly commensurate with its depoliticization. Considering mental illness an individual chemico-biological problem has enormous benefits for capitalism. First, it reinforces Capital’s drive towards atomistic individualization (you are sick because of your brain chemistry). Second, it provides an enormously lucrative market in which multinational pharmaceutical companies can peddle their pharmaceuticals (we can cure you with our SSRIs). It goes without saying that all mental illnesses are neurologically instantiated, but this says nothing about their causation. If it is true, for instance, that depression is constituted by low serotonin levels, what still needs to be explained is why particular individuals have low levels of serotonin. This requires a social and political explanation; and the task of repoliticizing mental illness is an urgent one if the left wants to challenge capitalist realism.”
― Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?, 2009
This, I think, is true to a degree. Denying the mental or physical results of certain policies benefits the rich. However, this criticism, whether intended by Fisher or not, is often used to reduce psychiatry and psychotherapy to mere, atomized, asocial, apolitical practices.
First of all, this hasn't been true in my case. Sure, I have my criticisms of the procedure and the practitioners, but I've talked about a variety of sociopolitical issues in therapy. I mean, how can you not talk about these issues? There are obviously social patterns in a population, and if they're not bad practitioners, the psychiatrists pick up on them. This doesn't mean that I talked about political theory in my therapy, but among numerous topics, I talked about things like the male gender role, the attached aggression and violence, the effects of emotional repression as a result of traditional roles. I know people who extensively talked in therapy about gender roles, queerphobia, and the associated problems.
Therapy helped me on political issues too. I used to be much more repressed, unable to express my disapproval, unable to handle any conflict. But with the help of psychiatry, I started expressing my opinions, including my disapproval, more and more. This included standing up for myself, and while there are many power structures I can't overcome as an individual, this change helped me better stand up for myself against people who have power over me. It also helps me feel not as much like a piece of shit when I can't, because learning to face my emotions helps me realize I have limits.
But, according to the Fisherian argument I've seen repeated countless times, this isn't what psychiatry does. It just treats you like an asocial animal, which is not true at all. If anything, psychiatry emphasizes, again and again, that humans are social animals, therefore, have social needs, and that not meeting those needs will lead to mental problems. Seriously. Search "humans are social creatures psychiatry" on whatever search engine you use and also on Google Scholar. You'll find, page after page, pop article and scientific article, talking about the importance of this.
The second thing I want to mention is that links between inequality and mental health are an important area of research. You can search for keywords like "socioeconomic status mental health" and "inequality mental health" on Google Scholar to see many articles written about this. You can alternatively replace "socioeconomic status" with "SES" and "mental health" with "mental illness" or a mental disorder of your choosing.
To add further support to my argument, let's look at the textbook "Psychology, Global Edition, 5th Edition" of Pearson, which is a very widely known publisher. It has an entire chapter dedicated to social psychology (Chapter 12). The chapter about psychological disorders, Chapter 14, has the following listed as one of its learning objectives (emphasis mine): "Compare and contrast behavioral, social cognitive, and biological explanations for depression and other disorders of mood."
Let's also look at WHO's mental disorders page (emphasis mine).
"At any one time, a diverse set of individual, family, community, and structural factors may combine to protect or undermine mental health. Although most people are resilient, people who are exposed to adverse circumstances – including poverty, violence, disability, and inequality – are at higher risk. Protective and risk factors include individual psychological and biological factors, such as emotional skills as well as genetics. Many of the risk and protective factors are influenced through changes in brain structure and/or function."
I think one of the other negative things about this argument is that, it denies the possibility that some people face mental illness not mainly as a result of social issues, but as a result of some biological unluck. I haven't checked it out specifically, but I think mental illnesses aren't necessarily mainly a result of social conditions or trauma. I can't claim this with certainty, but neither can the opposing side. However, my approach leaves a possibility open for people who may be experiencing exactly this. Therefore, without knowing, it doesn't claim that certain experiences can't exist.
Before I finish, I want to say that I don't deny the existence of bad practice. I've heard many stories of bad psychiatrists, and even if I hadn't, it would be unrealistic to think they wouldn't have such a problem, considering the problems in education and funding. However, my point is, it's not realistic to say psychiatry overlooks the social reasons for mental illnesses. There may be problems, but in no way they are a shared, distinctive feature of the field.
And last of all, this may be harsh but I think it needs saying, Mark Fisher fell victim to suicide. He's not exactly an epitome of healthy coping mechanisms, and his criticisms about mental health should be evaluated with that in mind. I often think intellectualization tends to come in the way of mental health for, well, intellectual people.
Edit: The last paragraph was poorly explained. I further elaborated here.
19 votes -
How Nellie Bly and other trailblazing women wrote creative nonfiction in English before it was a thing
12 votes -
Madrid to host an F1 race from 2026 with a ten-year deal
11 votes -
Turkey's parliament votes to let Sweden join NATO
36 votes -
"Mirror" tag
A pretty simple feature. Just seems like it would be handy to apply a tag to posts that provide non-paywalled or archive links for posts that are walled or 404'd. The idea just being that it seems...
A pretty simple feature. Just seems like it would be handy to apply a tag to posts that provide non-paywalled or archive links for posts that are walled or 404'd. The idea just being that it seems too much to put an "Exemplary" tag on it, but it seems too significant to just get a vote.
Ideally this would add the free link under the "Link Description" scrape, but that's probably hard to do. I guess you could also promote the tagged comment to the top of the stack, but then it seems like you can game out the sort to promote your commentary rather than just the link.
16 votes -
Any good Youtube channels on learning Data Structures and Algorithms, especially the math part?
Hello Tildes, I am currently taking DSA in college and struggling a lot with the math and algorithms. Recently had to solve Karatsuba questions and I don't even know what I wrote down on the...
Hello Tildes,
I am currently taking DSA in college and struggling a lot with the math and algorithms. Recently had to solve Karatsuba questions and I don't even know what I wrote down on the paper. I have been trying to look for videos on this and only really came away with a vague understanding.
What I've noticed is that I struggle with solving the math part of the questions.
For example: "Describe a divide and conquer algorithm to compute the square
of an n-digit integer in O(n log3 5) time, by reducing to the squaring of five [n/3]-digit
integers"I have zero clue how I am supposed to understand the latter half of the question. It makes no sense to me beyond I am supposed to be multiplying squared numbers. How do I even begin to turn this into an algorithm? What is the solution even supposed to look like?
Needless to say, I've struggled with math my entire life and I've been trying for years to be decent with it, and I have nothing to show for it.
So, do you have any recommendations that could simplify the math needed for DSA? Videos are preferred but I will textbook recommendations as well.
Thank you, and have a good day!
18 votes -
'Americans are fake and the Dutch are rude!': A personal account on their difference in social behavior
54 votes -
Before It Ends / Når Befrielsen Kommer | Trailer
6 votes -
How nuclear weapons and nuclear materials are transported
7 votes -
What have you been listening to this week?
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as...
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)
Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.
You can make a chart if you use last.fm:
http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/
Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.
13 votes -
The farmers had what the billionaires wanted
23 votes -
Cameroon starts world-first malaria mass vaccine rollout
18 votes -
Is there a markdown editor which let me open .md files from Windows?
I have looked at various editors, but those I came across all had their own build-in file navigator which they insisted you'd use. I always hate that; it's the one thing I dislike about Godot. So...
I have looked at various editors, but those I came across all had their own build-in file navigator which they insisted you'd use. I always hate that; it's the one thing I dislike about Godot. So is there one where you can simply open your .md files directly from Windows?
Edit: What I'm after is WYSIWYG, not just synstax highlighting.
20 votes -
Why is Israel sending Palestinian taxes to Norway? Public money destined for Gaza has been frozen by Israel since November.
13 votes -
Coming of age at the dawn of the social internet (LiveJournal, AIM, and other pre-Facebook internet things)
42 votes -
Starfield analysis | A quick retrospective
12 votes -
2024 Oscar nominations
10 votes -
Efficiency asymmetry: Scientists report fundamental asymmetry between heating and cooling
17 votes -
If your morning routine were the subject of a montage in a movie, what would be the song that played over the top of it?
Inspired by a random chat I had at work last week, I'm curious to know what Tildes makes of this (admittedly slightly daft) hypothetical!
18 votes -
DNA from stone age chewing gum sheds light on diet and disease in Scandinavia's ancient hunter-gatherers
11 votes -
After seven years in the political wilderness, Alexander Stubb is closing in on a remarkable comeback and new top job: president of Finland
7 votes -
Razzie Awards: ‘Expend4bles’ leads nominations
10 votes -
Loneliness results from an isolating society, not individual failures to pursue connection
45 votes -
What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)
What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was...
What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.
If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!
7 votes -
Looking for a good, modern alternative for PHP nuke
Way back in the day, I used to run a fan site for a game that ended up teaching me a lot about PHP, perl, databases and so on. Currently, I'm looking to rebuild that site, but PHP nuke is now...
Way back in the day, I used to run a fan site for a game that ended up teaching me a lot about PHP, perl, databases and so on. Currently, I'm looking to rebuild that site, but PHP nuke is now hopelessly outdated and joomla/Drupal are not the direction I want to go in. So far, I've found php-fusion (from GoDaddys cpanel installer) which seems close, but I'm curious if there is a closer analog out there.
The ideal for me is the old school blocks down the sides with content in the middle layout, with add-ons like forums, image gallery etc. Cheers for any help 😁
15 votes -
Inside the mechanical Bendix Air Data Computer, part 3: pressure transducers
4 votes -
The US right’s underestimated brain
23 votes -
Electric cars are not the future – In cities at least, e-bikes make more cultural and consumer sense
62 votes -
Midweek Movie Free Talk
Warning: this post may contain spoilers
Have you watched any movies recently you want to discuss? Any films you want to recommend or are hyped about? Feel free to discuss anything here.
Please just try to provide fair warning of spoilers if you can.
8 votes -
Feminism versus multiculturalism [an argument against feminism and multiculturalism being 'incompatible']
5 votes -
Third places, Stanley cup mania, and the epidemic of loneliness
11 votes -
The US GOP doesn’t want to punish trans people—it wants to eradicate them
77 votes -
Michael Bloomberg's funding keeps US gun control advocacy on a tight messaging leash
7 votes -
New ‘Jurassic World’ movie in the works with David Koepp writing
5 votes -
JINZO Paint — vintage mobile drawing app
8 votes -
Spot at AB InBev Belgium
6 votes -
Can ‘micro-acts of joy’ make you happier? I tried them for seven days.
11 votes -
Who is Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Antonio Nusa? Meet the next big thing out of Norway.
4 votes -
Star signings and new coaches: Why every MLS team should be hopeful in 2024
3 votes -
The women who broke the silence about the terrifying organization that trapped and abused them during Spain’s dictatorship
8 votes -
The Inside Story of PC Magazine, PC World, and Macworld's Origins, as Told by David Bunnell
8 votes -
Hit Man | Official teaser
4 votes -
At just 23, the exceptionally talented Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski has found success at the helm of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra
8 votes -
Pop-up tents work in a really clever way
7 votes -
Berlin reveals 2024 competition lineup: Rooney Mara, Mati Diop, Isabelle Huppert, Abderrahmane Sissako movies among selection
3 votes -
A Louisiana teen traveled to the West Bank to learn about his roots. He was shot dead.
17 votes -
Billionaire backers of new California city seek voter approval after stealthily snapping up farmland
27 votes -
Insect populations flourish in the restored habitats of solar energy facilities
27 votes -
US FDA recommends easing restrictions on marijuana
62 votes