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There is a recent thread on how even CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is akin to wire-heading[0], and we've known for ages that loneliness encourages depressi

by rexpop 6y ago

There is a recent thread on how even CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) is akin to wire-heading[0], and we've known for ages that loneliness encourages depression and addiction[1] so it's not a far leap to suggest that adverse environmental conditions can be measurably, significantly even fatally unpleasant. I think this conclusion is also common knowledge, intuitively accessible to any observant adult. It's strange, then, that we spend so much time addressing the chemical conclusions at which individuals arrive by virtue of their social relations. I suspect there are political reasons behind the medicalization of depression. Why should my neurochemistry be held responsible for relations whose creature I socially remain? 0. https://twitter.com/buss_patriarchy/status/1289076956873465857 https://twitter.com/buss_patriarchy/status/12890769568734658... 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8AHODc6phg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8AHODc6phg

ineedasername 6y ago
Knowledge that loneliness and environmental conditions impact depression is very much an incomplete picture. The causes of depression are far more complex and often recalcitrant to either life changes or medication. Sure, if social conditions are the primary factor in a person's mental health problems then "blaming" and attempting to address the issue at a neurochemical basis with medication may not be warranted. But to paint the entire illness with that brush is to overlook the complexity of the problem.
asdff 6y ago
It's so sad considering how we treat our mentally ill in the U.S.: we tell them to find a tent and a piece of sidewalk and look the other way when they walk up the street. How do you possibly heal from a mental health issue or addiction in an environment like that? How do you not just get worse and worse until something breaks? You have no safety living on the street. None of your possessions are safe if you leave them alone. You have no money, no resources at all because any step forward to lift yourself out of this requires putting money down up front. People treat you less than human based on your appearance alone, which grows more haggard the longer you are living out there with few pairs of clothes and limited ways to wash them or yourself. It's absolutely awful how we treat our mentally ill in this country, and the lack of any will to do anything about it from all levels of government.
- rexpop 6y ago
  Mental illness, like all illness, would benefit from universal, socialized medicine. That's the "lack of any will to do anything about it from all levels of government" we should be worried about.

by rexpop 6y ago

ineedasername 6y ago

Knowledge that loneliness and environmental conditions impact depression is very much an incomplete picture. The causes of depression are far more complex and often recalcitrant to either life changes or medication. Sure, if social conditions are the primary factor in a person's mental health problems then "blaming" and attempting to address the issue at a neurochemical basis with medication may not be warranted. But to paint the entire illness with that brush is to overlook the complexity of the problem.

asdff 6y ago

It's so sad considering how we treat our mentally ill in the U.S.: we tell them to find a tent and a piece of sidewalk and look the other way when they walk up the street. How do you possibly heal from a mental health issue or addiction in an environment like that? How do you not just get worse and worse until something breaks? You have no safety living on the street. None of your possessions are safe if you leave them alone. You have no money, no resources at all because any step forward to lift yourself out of this requires putting money down up front. People treat you less than human based on your appearance alone, which grows more haggard the longer you are living out there with few pairs of clothes and limited ways to wash them or yourself. It's absolutely awful how we treat our mentally ill in this country, and the lack of any will to do anything about it from all levels of government.

rexpop 6y ago
Mental illness, like all illness, would benefit from universal, socialized medicine. That's the "lack of any will to do anything about it from all levels of government" we should be worried about.