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Time for my semi-regular tweeting about capitalism causing most mental illness
Symptom: feeling isolated
Cause: mental illness? Not so fast! How about the fact that most of the ways we socialize are rendered private? Every activity other than sitting at home by yourself seems to have a cost
Cause: mental illness? Not so fast! How about the fact that most of the ways we socialize are rendered private? Every activity other than sitting at home by yourself seems to have a cost
Symptom: anxiety, feeling out of control
Cause: mental illness? Think again! We work more hours a day than feudal peasants did! A plurality of Americans are teetering on the edge of financial ruin! Wonder where that feeling of impending doom might come from?
Cause: mental illness? Think again! We work more hours a day than feudal peasants did! A plurality of Americans are teetering on the edge of financial ruin! Wonder where that feeling of impending doom might come from?
Symptom: hyperactivity
Cause: ADHD? Hmm... maybe it could be the fact that any behavior that isn’t directly productive is constructed to be immoral and it’s not the fault of the individual?
Cause: ADHD? Hmm... maybe it could be the fact that any behavior that isn’t directly productive is constructed to be immoral and it’s not the fault of the individual?
Symptom: flattened affect
Cause: depression? Perhaps, OR it could be the fact that we are forced to do meaningless repetitive jobs that beat out individuality. Why wouldn’t you feel flat if 1/3 of your day is spent conforming for no good reason?
Cause: depression? Perhaps, OR it could be the fact that we are forced to do meaningless repetitive jobs that beat out individuality. Why wouldn’t you feel flat if 1/3 of your day is spent conforming for no good reason?
Symptom: body dysmorphia
Cause: eating disorder? Let’s explore- why do we fear being fat? Surely not because of some inherent morality to thinness but perhaps because our depiction of perfection is everywhere, and dehumanizes people to sell a product?
Cause: eating disorder? Let’s explore- why do we fear being fat? Surely not because of some inherent morality to thinness but perhaps because our depiction of perfection is everywhere, and dehumanizes people to sell a product?
Symptom: paranoia
Cause: psychosis? Not necessarily! Why wouldn’t you be paranoid while living in fear of being raped or shot by a cop or being beaten to death or having doctors not listen to you or or? It’s only the people who don’t experience this who would call it paranoia
Cause: psychosis? Not necessarily! Why wouldn’t you be paranoid while living in fear of being raped or shot by a cop or being beaten to death or having doctors not listen to you or or? It’s only the people who don’t experience this who would call it paranoia
Symptom: shame and self hatred
Cause: disordered thought patterns? Why wouldn’t you think of yourself as lesser than when literally you are made lesser than, less money=fewer avenues to cope, and wealthy mindfuck you into thinking it’s your own fault you can’t cope?
Cause: disordered thought patterns? Why wouldn’t you think of yourself as lesser than when literally you are made lesser than, less money=fewer avenues to cope, and wealthy mindfuck you into thinking it’s your own fault you can’t cope?
Symptom: substance abuse
Cause: proclivity for addiction? Or could it be the fact that we live in a hell-world where we are robbed of our dignity, and there’s no real escape but altering our consciousness?
Cause: proclivity for addiction? Or could it be the fact that we live in a hell-world where we are robbed of our dignity, and there’s no real escape but altering our consciousness?
This isn’t to say there are no underlying biological causes of mental illness, but we call it the biopsychoSOCIAL model for a reason, so we don’t just focus on the individual, but the networks and conditions that make us who we are
Some of us might be predisposed to cope better or worse with chronic stress, some of us might be more inclined to have hallucinations, or to have maladaptive or harmful personality traits. Regardless, everybody has a breaking point
DONT BE MINDFUCKED INTO THINKING MENTAL ILLNESS IS ALWAYS INNATE OR YOUR FAULT! consumption can’t fix what it claims to, whether it’s food or drugs or luxury items or our fucking world’s natural resources
Mental illness is stigmatized because the mentally ill are less able to sell our labor to the capitalist class. Fuck em. We are having human responses to an inhumane social system.
Last thought: meds.
For a long time, I thought the right antidepressant, the right stimulant, the right psychedelic or anxiolytic or or or would take away my pain. And my antidepressants make me less weepy and hopeless, stimulants increase my focus and motivation...
For a long time, I thought the right antidepressant, the right stimulant, the right psychedelic or anxiolytic or or or would take away my pain. And my antidepressants make me less weepy and hopeless, stimulants increase my focus and motivation...
... anxiolytics stop my panic attacks cold. But this is all palliative care, reducing symptoms but never offering real relief.
psych meds help me live in a world that wasn’t made for me. Or you. Or anyone. They’re not a cure, but a life raft that keeps me afloat under increasingly straining circumstances. So meds help. Therapy helps. But the only real “cure” is going to be the end of capitalism.
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