wrapped_in_clingfilm

wrapped_in_clingfilm t1_iu5awma wrote

Well, that's a salient point. People who are involved with real and tangible political struggles (i.e. not just voicing opinions on reddit and shouting at others), are statistically lees prone to 'mental health' problems.

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wrapped_in_clingfilm t1_iu57zdp wrote

Couldn't agree more. But the problem is never going to be solved by such help when the system itself is the problem, because the 'help' is determined by the system that sustains it.

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wrapped_in_clingfilm t1_iu51634 wrote

Well, there's a whole philosophical rabbit hole you are invited to jump into, but you may not come back out: the meeting of Hegel, Marx and psychoanalysis. Try r/zizek.

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wrapped_in_clingfilm t1_iu4vet4 wrote

Absolutely, it was well-intentioned from the start, but what 95% of mental health unconsciously does is to place the problem "within" the individual, as a 'psychological' failure, as opposed to a social problem (although we all recognise the need for support). Death is part of life, but the elderly man whose wife dies suffers to the point of being unable to cope nine times out of ten because he struggles to find a sufficient network of relations around him that help him through it, and substituting warm, caring personal relationships with professional support doesn't really cut it. We are increasingly socially isolated thanks to the needs of capital (we have to move to where the work/education is, and isolation in retirement is very common).

The main concern of State is profit in late stage capitalism (to keep the corporate sponsors of political parties happy), hence, get the patient back to work a.s.a.p. This does not have to descend into some kind of bleak Marxist diatribe against capitalism, it is merely an accurate critique of how it works and that financial profit is its most determining factor. To place the problem "within" the individual is to obfuscate the underlying socio-economic factors. If we were to confront those properly, it would threaten the interests of capital.

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wrapped_in_clingfilm t1_iu4rxw3 wrote

Indoctrination. As mental health falls under the profit directives of capitalism, despite the goodwill of individuals (and most are well intentioned in the healthcare industry), the priority is always to get the person "back to work" as the main metric of success. CBT was considered a quick fix solution that satisfied the immediate financial interests of the state and the insurance companies. In the NHS in the UK, this problem has come to light recently, whether or not it stays in the light is another matter.

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wrapped_in_clingfilm t1_iu0jf2o wrote

>Cognitive behavioral therapy does have strong empirical evidence supporting its effectiveness in addressing anxiety

That's a little outdated now, lots of new evidence that CBT is only useful for treating symptoms, not causes, and so only offers temporary relief.

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