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Hey Josef, thanks for making the thread. This is a very important issue to me, as it is to a lot of goons.Josef bugman posted:The first thing that I would like to ask people is what they consider good mental health? Now, obviously this seems like a simple question, everyone imagines that it is simply the opposite of “bad” mental health, but that does not necessarily follow. Whilst it has become increasingly common for us to look at symptoms and diagnose a particular condition it has also become harder and harder to define what a “completely healthy” mental health outlook looks like. Personally I would contend that there is not a singular model of mental health that should be adhered to, but instead consideration given to what we define as “useful” or “normal” thinking. I think good mental health can be defined as a consistent sense of self. We have this idea of "a personality" that is in many ways a social construct. It becomes very obvious to a mentally ill person, as they go through periods of their life and different medications and etc, that "personality" is a very fluid idea. While everyone has some immutable characteristics (mostly genetic), I've joked with my bipolar friends that "nobody is actually anything." Mental illness gives you a real front row seat to the idea that how you live is driven much more by unconscious reactions and your environment than any decisions you make about "who you are." I think that principle applies to people who aren't "mentally ill," but they just haven't had the opportunity to, I dunno, "notice" it. I think most "mental illness," especially depression, is not a symptom of an actual brain "problem," but just a symptom of a society that tries to put everybody in the square hole, even if some of the pegs aren't square. If you're not wealthy, there is only really one way to live in the western world, and not everybody is cut out for it. The result is people who do their best at living that life, but are in pain. Sometimes they abuse substances to get by. Sometimes they give up. Mental illness, even physically diagnosable ones, can usually be mitigated by changing people's life circumstances - but our societies give us very few options for how to live and even fewer opportunities to change. Here is a good TED talk (sorry, but it's good) by Johann Hari on the subject of holistic mental health treatment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB5IX-np5fE
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Jul 12, 2021 21:58
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 06:55 |
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I agree that people should know it’s important that they pay attention to their mental health, even if they’re “not mentally ill.” But at the same time, I am extremely wary about applying anything about how we think of “physical fitness” to how we think about mental health. What we see with physical health is societal failures papered over with moralizing directed at the failures of individuals. Obesity rates have increased, what, fourfold over the last 50 years? This suggests that something about our society has changed in a way that makes physical fitness much more difficult for people to attain. But a lot of people still seem to think of the obesity epidemic as if 30-40% of the population just “became” lazy and gluttonous around 1990. The successes in individuals, which are rare, are held over the heads of people who are not successful. Meanwhile, our society keeps demanding we sit in chairs eight hours a day and keeps showing us ads for McDonald’s every 10 minutes when we’re trying to watch the NBA Finals. I’m afraid of a future where people who have never struggled with their mental health start telling ill people, “Why can’t you just feel better - it’s just [mental equivalent of calories] in, [mental equivalent of calories] out!”
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Jul 13, 2021 16:11
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Great summary, thanks! Definitely a good start to any reading list on the subject.
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Jul 14, 2021 19:58
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