Well, I would go with the title of this video -without the question mark and add "Boy" in front of it. I was always so scared to be sent back into the system/market that I knew was the problem that made me and so many other people burn out again and again, worse and worse each time. Therapists can do such a good job, but itś all for nothing when society throw the fixed people back into the system of productivety for econimic growth -the system that makes both people and the planet sick in the first place! Thatś no development for the better, neather for the individuals, nor for their societies or the world of finite resources they all live off. Actually, thereś research that shows people who burnt out once are more prone to burnout and more severe mental conditions a few years later, when thrown back into the idiotic system that destroys both planet resources and peoples ability to function! But the root reason for this is taxation of work, which makes politicians dependent on highly productive workers. Instead, they should offcourse put more taxes on the larger companies that destroy the most resources.
@@LUVRG1RL breathing techniques can only do so much - especially when you have both tremendous physical and psychological stress put upon you as seen in many modern work environments....
I had a therapist a couple decades ago who I don’t believe helped me with what I went to her for but I always remember her saying “I don’t believe that everyone must work.” and “It’s ok if you don’t work. Not everyone has to work.” I thought I had wasted all that time with therapy but now I see that she helped me a lot just not with what I wanted at the time. She was decades ahead of her time about end stage capitalism. Thank you, lady in San Francisco. 🙏
*late stage. There's no reason to think capitalism is in the final stage. "late stage" just means "the state of capitalism, as of late", like saying "how capitalism has been lately".
@@laynamonk4023 Actually, we do not need money to survive. We need food, water, shelter, peace, comaraderie, sleep, and exercise. And access to sanitation. In a world where not everyone is forced to work (via rent/utilities/insurance/food prices), we would be able to produce plenty, thanks in large part to our highly advanced technologies and machinery. How many farmers are needed to fill silos? How many cooks are needed to serve tens of thousands of meals every single day? How many truck drivers and how many spiritual leaders and how many dock/rail workers? If we're being honest, the great majority of us do not have jobs that are essential to our collective survival. And there is also no lack of resources. It's misallocated. Powerful people dont want to share what they have, and they want to call us lazy and blame us for our lack. Yet something as petty as stealing food or clothing from a retail outlet gets cops, Asset protection, private security, and random Good Samaritan Citizens all on your ass trying to choke you to death. Nah, none of us need to work. Fact many of us DONT work, that's what TV shows like "The Office" are about! It's all a sham. These jobs just to make us feel and look busy. Appear productive and dont you dare ever stop spending your money. In reality, most of us should be living life in leisure, with the free time, energy, and well-rested minds to heal trauma, to innovate for our genuine human benefit, to create art.. I think that the human condition would be changed in ways that we really cant imagine in the youtube comment section - Source: i am a different lady in San Francisco (In the past i have worked as a cook/retail/meatcutter)
I have desperately tried to explain to my psych that I can handle what's going on inside of me. I've learned to manage that. It's the oppressiveness of forces acting upon me that's the problem right now. I can't get anyone in my care team, especially social workers, to call me back so that I can get financial help for myself and my family. Everyone in the medical profession needs to be an advocate for us.
I have had similar experience where im constantly being told im not trying hard enough and then changed medication and alot of my problems with regulating mood are subsiding. I hate the fact that people in these fields label their clients or just write them off just because they seem normal to them or just abit too senstive whatever thats suppose to mean. Its like you unesscarily struggle for years with the wrong medication and therapy and your the one whose just not trying hard enough. Ive grown to just distrust and dislike therapists now. I feel bad saying that but thats how i feel :/
@@me6796 I too hate the fact that the conventional medical attitude is to fix people by making them suppress/hide their symptoms and be compliant/submissive to the treatment, instead of focusing on how to change the environmental/structural factors, and finding alternate paths where a person can truly feel safe & thrive.
They have a lot of people they have to advocate for sadly, if someone is not calling you back one day it very well might be because they are calling back fifteen other people.
Most likely those medical workers are being exploited and overworked. Have you considered what YOU can do to advocate for them? No criticism of you, you absolutely deserve the best care. I’m simply pointing out that in a broken system, asking individuals to do their job better isn’t going to solve the problem
I'm disabled. I have a rare genetic condition that didn't show up (flare) until I was an adult. My now adult children also have the condition and are disabled. I've been told by relatives that I should just off myself because I'm a burden on my husband, my family, culture, and society. I really appreciate this video. I don't believe that my value is in my ability to be productive in the capitalistic machine, but so many people do. I refuse to tell my children that they have no value if they cannot work in a traditional sense. My (non-toxic) family and friends value me for who I am not what I can bring to the economy. Unfortunately the mindset that you are only allowed to be alive if you are highly productive results in a lot of ableism, bias, and even more barriers to help in our society.
Oh man, I feel this. As soon as I became disabled, it was like really taboo for a large portion of my family. Then when covid happened, all the family gatherings became really unsafe for me due to antivax + antimask behaviors/beliefs, so I couldn't really go anymore. I went once in the last 3 years, it was a really overwhelming sensory environment, extra people that I don't know were there (and was not told about), I was the only one wearing a mask, and I barely got to talk to anyone. The only person I did get to talk to was my teenage nibling (that part was awesome), and at the end they basically implied that the only reason I hadn't show up to other family gatherings was because I chose not to (while technically true, really seems like there wasn't any understanding of how my disabilities affect me or what my day to day limitations are - but like how could they know? No one will talk to me about it.). I didn't get sick from a pathogen, but I still needed over a month to recover because it was such a stressful environment and it made my chronic conditions flare up really badly. I'm far from the only neurodivergent person in my family and some of my niblings show indications of both neurodivergence and early signs of my underlying genetic condition, but my mom still sets up this extremely overwhelming sensory environment for every family gathering she hosts (even though she's also told me she gets overwhelmed too), so the internalized ableism is really strong and present in my family of origin.
Thank you so much. It takes a lot of courage to share with this kind of honestly your experiences and struggle. We’ve always made feel ashamed or “acting the victim” if we speak about our illness. I started struggling with my health at 14 at it takes 5 years to have a diagnosis due to medical incompetence, gaslighting etc.. I spent the last years trying to recognize my struggle and don’t feel a useless and lazy person who’s faking it. Fucking imposter syndrom for being ill is a shitshow. I’m always afraid of speaking about it or saying out loud how I’m really feeling, so thank you, you’ve give me something to relate, and a safe space.
Omg. I am so sorry. 1st I'd like to say as a mother who lost her daughter to s@icide, that no you are not a burden. You have intrinsic value in your loved ones' lives and to lose you in such a way would lay a burden on them for the rest of their days(I don't mean that to shame you or anyone for s@icudal ideation. Just trying to accentuate the point that nothing you need from your loved ones will compare to the inability to do those things for you anymore) 2nd one of my sisters was born with spina bifida and was in a wheelchair from 3 years old on. She depended on us to help her with accessibility issues, medical necessities, etc. But we depended on her too. I lost her in Nov 2020 and there isn't a day that goes by that I wish I could do one more thing to help her, play one more card game with her while gossiping about whatever with her. Not trying to tell you how to handle those family members, but I do hope you have strict boundaries with them. I feel a bit sorry for them, tbh, because they don't seem to understand the indescribable value of human connection. All the best to you and yours. Thank you for sharing 💜
This is the story of my life, minus the kids & husband… let me guess, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Another thing, you aren’t a burden on your husband or children. I have struggled with the same issues and feeling myself.
@@annaalessandrini9965 Yeah the imposter syndrome is real... Especially when you have a condition that showed symptoms as a kid and those were all dismissed (accused of faking, etc) due to your age at the time. Then the SSDI process does it all over again when they hire "experts" that can't be bothered to even read your medical file properly. It's so hard. Deconstructing the internalized ableism helps, but it's still really hard to be surrounded by the capitalist oppression that's still driving everyone else.
I'm a licensed psychotherapist. I haven't even watched the video yet, and I already want to say, "insurance is a tool by which capitalism owns and limits mental healthcare."
My last few therapists were so focused on the insurance end of it, they hardly listened and weren't interested in actually working with me. It was all about meeting quotas and fixing me within a given time frame (10 weeks. Yikes.) They didn't care about my trauma, they just wanted to fix me in a bubble so I could be done. It was train wreck after train wreck so after a few failed referrals, I quit going. I do better with videos and books. I've made a lot of progress on my own.
I'm incredibly lucky that I have a therapist who is anticapitalist and has been focusing our sessions on what makes me happier, not what makes me more productive to the owning class. She's also been working on deconstructing the idea that I'm less worthy because I'm studying a vocational degree rather than a university one, and other such things. I can't express how much of a difference it has made to have someone like that in my corner
@@kalloyd05 It depends on the career you are working on. Some require at least an associates, bachelors or even a masters degree (nursing, psychotherapy, accounting, teaching, IT, etc). Others require some experience or vocational training (mechanic, hair stylist, electrician, chef). Others don't typically require anything (artist, receptionist, small business owner, bank teller). Each are important. But I do recognize that so many young students have been fed this dream of being successful if you go to college and that it's an affordable goal with financial aid and loans. So many people have been roped up in tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt just so they could meet their career goals (I was one of them), only to find that the degree didn't help them achieve their goals and now time and money was spent when it wasn't necessary or would be unhelpful. I feel for our generation because we were spoon fed this idea that the only way to be financially secure and happy is to go to college. I always encourage high schoolers to take a break after graduating to give them time to know what career they want and how to achieve it. I also recommend those wanting to go to college to complete two years of community college to get the required courses (eng, math, etc) out of the way for much less money, and then transferring to another school if they need a specific program. I'm hoping to encourage younger generations to feel empowered in their career choice, no matter if education is required or not, and to find ways to get there without going into a bunch of debt.
Thank you for this video. It hit me really hard. I'm neurodivergent and disabled, and have been my whole life, though I'm only now, in my late 30s, getting diagnosed. I was also raised by very high-energy, pro-capitalism parents, in a very conservative town. I'm lucky to have a good therapist, a supportive partner, and enough resources to be comfortable, but this idea of my value not being tied to my productivity is still something I've been working on for years. Your video made me feel seen and accepted and like I'm on the right track. Thank you so much!
I feel you, it is something that I also have been working on and feel fortunate that I am on disability. One that hits me hard is when the government does the narrative of being a drain on society (I live in Australia and last year we had a change of government so I get a break from this one for a while) and talks about re-evaluating everyone who qualified for any services. On one side there is messaging that everyone has value and on the other you get that.
I'm also neurodivergent and disabled. The woman who gave birth to me is... Not a kind person. I'm trying to get over the belief that I am a waste of resources if I am not useful to someone. I deserve to have a humane standard of living, even if I'm "lazy"(see: suffering from extreme burnout and depression). I am not expected to be able to do things without being taught first. I'm not expected to complete tasks inhumanly fast. Most people expect minor flaws and mistakes as par for the course and don't feel the need to yell at length about every minor mistake. A lot of people actually appreciate the work I do. That woman carved many of the cruelest underlying philosophies of capitalism deep into my opinion of myself. I'm barely functional enough to work at my job and keep my body operational. I'm working on giving myself the kindness and grace I would give a stranger. I know intellectually that I deserve to exist, but it's really hard to internalize that, especially when I think about asking for accommodations.
I'd like to recommend the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, the wisdom in that book is what the world really needs right now to help us heal from the conditioning.
So I quit my job yesterday because it was really starting to harm my mental health. They kept expecting more and more productivity and I felt I was at the point where you kinda trip and then fly off the treadmill so instead I jumped off. I don't have a solid plan for what's next but I'll figure it out.
I'm in the same boat as of 3 weeks ago. I'm proud of you. Thank you for being alive. Thank you for advocating for yourself. Thank you for knowing you deserve more out of life. Thank you for being kind to yourself. Thank you for being so strong.b
Thank you!!! As a chronic pain person, I am deeply lost in this system. Migraines on there own don’t qualify me for disability, even though mine are completely connected to CPTSD. I would have to have money to get help proving this, or even to be able to get enough therapy to get a proper diagnosis. There is not enough discussion about how capitalism is crushing someone like me, and the trauma of having to work with severe pain while pretending I am fine so that someone will hire me is beyond horrible. Capitalism is the main factor in me not being able to stabilize my life in a safe way that is financially stable. I will never make peace with this. More women have migraines and I can’t help thinking that if more men had them instead the road to disability approval would look very different.
My younger sister didn't have enough work hours for disability, but does get SSI: In her telephone appeal hearing, the judge reminded the "vocational expert" witness that chronic absenteeism due to illness (chronic migraines) is considered a disability. So after two years of fighting for it without a lawyer, she got SSI. We're in the Upper Midwest, and I'm going through my lengthy second attempt for disability benefits for my various conditions, including chronic pain and hypermobility, this time with a lawyer - who's not doing much, but will be useful when I'm inevitably rejected and need to appeal. I still expect it to take 1-2 years.
i have chronic migraines along with epilepsy. can’t get on disability bc my seizures aren’t the “right kind” 😒. no therapist gets my struggles. i’m super depressed and just got a new one, and i’m trying to wait it out and see how things go with her. but she suggested i uber to jobs and work at like chilis as much as i can to get as much money as i can and i was like???? no???? i can’t do that????? and she went “i have migraines but i have medicine why don’t you?” and i was like “i’ve tried every medication that will go with my epilepsy meds. nothing has worked. i just got on botox and that hasn’t even gotten to full effect yet”. like i come to therapy for help, and for an hour i feel like i’m defending myself on why i live the way i live and it just makes me feel worse
I am in the exact same boat- I cannot work without melting down, I will either lose my shit in front of customers or start drinking again, and that's no way to cope, I tried for 10 years, I just ended up with liver/renal failure... I believe ASD is the heart of my issues, and I believe I am an excellent candidate for disability, but i can't afford the doctors to diagnose and advocate for me, so it's an endless Catch-22 for people like us. I am so sorry for your situation, I hope you are able to find a respite somehow...
I don't think the "medical model" or the transactional relationship is the best way for medical doctors to operate either. There's so many medical conditions that require deeper and more holistic understanding, and longterm attention and care. Not to mention how those conditions can also impact our self esteem and mental health. It truly feels awful to be told by a medical professional that they don't believe you about your pain level, and that they think you're just drug seeking. There's research that shows that interaction can actually make your physical pain worse. And make you stop or want to stop searching for help. I'm so grateful that I found a nurse practitioner that feels like a guide and a friend more than a authority figure that I'm called in to blindly obey. My physical and mental health are so much better for having that relationship ongoing in my life
Fucking YES! You’re so right. Human are so complex and a lot of illness are really multifactorial or deeply related with trauma (in both ways, as a trigger of the illness or as a consequence)
in Brasil where i live doctors call people patients, but the framing is that you treat the patient not the disease, a patient here mean a person, not a case, but here we have public health
lotta ppl with mental illness and disability identify with socialism for the exact reason that capitalism decides whether we're fixable or not based on whether we can produce extra for capitalists or whether we'll burden their profits. best case scenario, we can be medicated or accomodated for wealth extraction, worst case scenario we can be denied everything and probably end up in a prison and be profitable that way. socialism says that we can be productive for ourselves and our communities regardless of how much "work" we can do. we are people and that is inherently a positive addition to society. love this ❤️
One frustration I had working as a therapist was that I didn't feel like I could really solve peoples' problems... Like the only thing that could really help them was systemic change or various other factors that were beyond my control/the scope of my role. I felt helpless...
I mean how is talking to a person supposed to help a person when their problem is the world? They can't adapt and survive because the world is so messed up.. it oppresses us..
@@thothheartmaat2833 Exactly. I think a good example of this was when I was treating clients at the beginning of the pandemic. The stress of being able to make enough money to survive was unreal. One of my clients had *just* made it out of a homeless shelter with her three very young kids by getting a job with Amazon. But she shared that the company did not seem concerned about their employees' health or wellbeing. Sure, they required masks and using hand sanitizer, etc. But these were not enforced and many just didn't wear their masks on their faces. And when someone caught covid, they wouldn't disinfect the warehouse (I'm talking very early pandemic when many public and private buildings were being sprayed to disinfect). This client was so worried about making her kids or vulnerable family members sick that she would spray herself with a can of Lysol after every shift. And all I could do was be present with her and assure her that she is reacting normally to an abnormal situation. What else could I do? The US government gave maybe 4 stimulus checks to the citizens , which wasn''t nearly enough to cover any missed work and keep her and her children in their home. And the whole world was struggling to cope. It was also a very difficult time to be a therapist, especially when I was also experiencing the distress of choosing between being able to work and feed my family or become exposed to a virus with no vaccine or helpful treatments.
I stopped seeing my therapist a few months ago for this exact same reason, because I live at my parents house and my therapist doesn't control my parents.
Capitalism gives us zero/sum, transactional relationships, and weighs us according to our benefit to shareholders. From our first day of school, we’re being prepared to take part in that system, and to place the workings of that system ahead of any human values we have. I wish more therapists were not only more trauma informed, but also more insightful about the violence of this system toward individuals. I have sorted out my own issues, even though the pain and grief are still with me too often. It would be a hell of a lot easier, if I didn’t live in a society in which the highest value is profit, with outright contempt for the lives of those who produce it.
With my therapist whenever I would talk about the problems of the world she would say "well what do you want me to do about it?" in a very defensive way. This made me realize that she was just trying to fix me and not really listening to what I was saying and that she didn't like that I talked about problems outside of myself. But how can I talk about my own issues without her acknowledging that systemic injustices are what have brought about the vast majority of my suffering? It feels very much like I'm being gaslighted. "You can just change your situation with a new perspective" is gaslighting. You can't escape poverty or injustice with a positive attitude. Unless that positive attitude also comes with organizing with your fellow activists and destroying the system. I also don't like that some therapists (in my experience) will threaten to Baker Act you if you talk about suicidal ideation--- that screams "if you even think about trying to escape this horrific racist capitalist hellscape, we'll just make it worse for you." If you see life as a beautiful thing then that's great, but if someone sees it as a prison, if we see ourselves as being born to be cogs in the capitalist machine, then the only reason to so vehemently insist that people stay alive at all costs is because the system will lose a worker and we can't have workers escaping. But what I really want is the choice to not to have to sell my labor for things such as shelter, food, etc... which are human rights. How do I opt out of capitalism? And I want that for all people--- to not have to slaves for the sake of the wealthy. I want all people to be able to just live not for the sake of others. My reason for wanting to survive is just to bring down capitalism so that we don't all have to suffer anymore. But I don't want to have to do it. I want to live in the kinder, more beautiful world already. I'm envious of the people for whom we are trying to create a better world. And I do think therapy can be very helpful, but only if therapists (like you are doing) acknowledge that there have to be systemic changes and not gaslight clients by being like "have you tried coloring" or "maybe going for a walk will have you feel better." If a therapist isn't saying the whole system should be destroyed, then I don't trust them. And most therapists seem to be wealthy white people, so they're not going to tell you to destroy a system that benefits them.
I had a very similar experience with my first therapist, which was relatively recent and who I worked with for over 2 years. I wish I hadn't wasted so much time with a therapist who was gaslighting me on multiple fronts and who was also racist/microaggressive. She would get so defensive when I would bring up whiteness or systemic oppression bc she actively benefitted from those systems, and challenging those systems made her uncomfortable and "threatened." When I called her on gaslighting me and keeping me in an abusive relationship I was actively trying to leave bc he was "so good to me," she completely dodged accountability and played the victim. Fuck you Cheryl. Any progress I made was in spite of you and I hope you lose your fucking license.
Everyone has to work for food, clothes, shelter whether that be having a job and paying for it or being in the wilderness hunting, making your own text tiles, harvesting natural resources to built your shelter. I wish people would be honest and say they want the stuff other people work for. People of a certain generation want upper middle class lives without any effort. It really comes down to entitlement. You are not entitled to the fruit of other peoples work. If I have a garden I do not have to give you half because you are too lazy to either grow your own or help me with mine. Who do you think you are?
Capitalism is predatory as hell. No one talks about how Capitalism makes the commodification of things like sex and appearance necessary as part of its full implementation.
@@AnHeC i mean, other options haven't been able to be explored yet without the previous ruling system trying its damndest to eradicate it. besides, capitalism implodes on itself every few years because it's only a design that works on paper, which is why shit keeps collapsing around us while it cant even fulfill the basic necessities for a functioning, happy society. like, you seriously think capitalism is the best we can do when quite literally everything can be bought with money at this point? whats the difference between laws being geared towards the benefits of feudal lords and laws being geared towards wealthy capitalists because they can afford to lobby for bills, and destabilize an entire economy in a day?
@@AnHeC You have been successfully influenced by the ruling class's propaganda. The idea that all modes of self organization and governance are inherently cruel and exploitative is a lie that is peddled to engineer complacency with the status quo. They do the same thing when they try to tell us that greed and hunger for power are inherent to the human condition, that humans are innately monstrous, in order to write off all ideas regarding a more fair society as "idealistic naivety".
Really grateful to hear your thoughts about this! My biggest hangup with therapy and mental health care in general is how much it has typically been geared towards being a functioning and productive member of society. I don't want to be a functioning and productive member of society. I want to not be tired all the time. It's helpful to know this shift is happening in the field.
Maybe you just need to be a member of a functional society that doesen destroy the planet and itself? Then you would probably feel good and be productive/not too sick and tired.
Sadly, many of us who do not have financial security end up either stuffing down feelings or using other bad coping skills. This culture breeds unhealthy living!
I’m so glad to have stumbled upon this video! I have a BA in psychology and this capitalist model is basically why I didn’t want to continue my education in psychotherapy. I feel like people are being pushed into “functioning better by working nonstop”, especially in my local area (I live in Beijing and the pressure is huge). Thank you for talking about this!
This is such an important conversation that I had never even considered. My current therapist works with survivors of domestic abuse and childhood trauma, many of them being women/femme presenting. Addressing trauma with a socialist/anti-capitalist clinician who is also an experienced advocate for women has changed my healing journey so much. She has helped me to unpack and reframe my experiences in ways no other therapist has.
Things are so much better than in the 90s, not that improvement isn’t still needed, but back then I went to college for a career that I ended up wanting to literally end my existence to get out of and avoid shame. Long story short, I got out and started getting help. The therapist I had in 93 though implied that my mental recovery could not continue to progress without going back to that career, she was convinced I had given up something I “loved” and would realize that if I returned. I thought of DEATH when she said that, and that I didn’t want to die. I pretended I was working toward getting back to it until I could get out of therapy, I didn’t trust it for a long time after that, around 17 years.
I'm a masters student in chemical engineering, and I got diagnosed with autism and OCD only as a masters student in chemical engineering. I didn't have those mental health conditions as a bachelors student. So therapists are trying to fit people's diagnosis based on their level of education and the field they're expected to work in.
Mickey, this is one of those times when I hear something and my brain just goes DING. Something I’ve been chewing on for so long that hearing it out loud just rings incredibly true. Permission to share with my own councillor and discuss in session?
WOW okay this is a great video and a great topic, and I wouldn't mind more of this!! I have to say a lot of my anxiety revolves around the pressures that exist due to our capitalistic world. since I turned 20 all I've been focusing on is "ok, you have to get your mental health to a better place before you turn 26 because then you're not on your parents insurance anymore, so you HAVE to be ready for a full time job with benefits by then or else you can't get meds/therapy/etc which you need to survive" and I've been PUSHING myself to get there, and I'm on track to start full time at my current job in May (when I turn 26) but I'm still very scared and I HATE that this is the reality for me and many other people. As if we can just make our mental illness disappear so we can work like a good robot and make enough money to maybe feed and house ourselves. It really, really fucking sucks. So anyway, thank you for making this video!! It's really cool to see clinicians talking about this sort of thing.
30 yo here. It's not as bad as you think, try not to stress about it too much. Once you stop being attached to the idea of a deadline for self-actualizing, it becomes a lot easier to just like live your life. I couldn't manage letting go like that until this year when I realized life continues after my 20s 😂
@@kit922 I disagree. I'm 32, autistic/adhd, chronically ill, asthmatic and nonbinary pursuing hormone therapy. My life is constant stress about whether I'll have insurance and be able to get medications that I need to be able to literally breathe, for mental health, and other reasons. My employment and health is all very precarious because my disabilities prevent me from working full time, but I'm not not disabled enough for benefits on that basis. You're right that life and self actualization doesn't end in your 30s, but whether you can access regular healthcare and medication does. It's terrifying and honestly a very hopeless feeling.
Best wishes with transitioning to your full time job! As someone who can't work full time at the moment myself, I know the stress. I hope it works out for you, and that we'll somehow manage to transition to a less barbaric health insurance system at some point. Ideally we'll someday move past only valuing people based on monetary factors altogether.
Wow... I resonate with this so much. I can't believe I have to stress so much about whether or not I'm going to be able to afford medication I literally need to be alive and continue living. I don't know if this is whiny or not, but it feels unfair that I have to work so hard just to have the possibility of being able to continue living, while every other person in my life lives easy because they don't need to pay for their bodies to work properly. And some of them look down on me, as if it's my fault I need these medications and yet still can't hope to function on a normal level because of all my health conditions, or it's my fault that my medications are so expensive and thus I have trouble with affording everything else. I gotta stop thinking about this, it really makes me wonder what's the point of it all.
@@duetopersonalreasonsaaaaaaunder capitalism, the only point of anything is to make as much money as possible for those who control capital and then die when we are no longer able. it happens to us all eventually, people are only temporally abled sounds like you and erin would benefit from a unionized work place. the industrialized workers of the world (IWW) will waive dues on request, and they provide all kinds of support to ppl interested in unionizing. even if you don't have the spoons to organize your workplace, it's an org where keyboard activism is appreciated, and being plugged in with others w disabilities also forced to work might help manage negative feelings. just a thought, best of luck
There's a version of "productivity" which centers on building community, rather than stuff. this can be helpful for some. To me, it's also important to address the "charity" off shoot of the medical model. The one that makes Disabled/nonconforming('defective") bodies a currency "'owed" to clinicians or those publishing articles to further study. It's BS & eugenics. I have very rarely left a clinicians office, medical, therapist or other where I didn't feel like I should be compensated for effectively providing CEUs.They almost never know what functional supports look like in practice & too many don't care. Frequently, even today for example wheelchair users are told/sold euthanasia as a "solution". Even when chronic pain is not an issue. Mobility & "independence" get conflated with autonomy. NO just NO
Yeah I think it's really important to make a distinction between being productive for one's community and being productive for the capitalist economy. They get bundled up under the same word but they're really worlds apart, both as experiences and in their impact. Being productive for oneself or one's community is amazingly rewarding and it can also be a really healing experience, working together for a common goal. But being productive for the capitalist economy never makes you feel that way. When you're working for a company that's paying you a fraction of what your work is worth to them you never get to truly enjoy the fruit of your labor. That, and because you spend most of your waking life working, you won't have the energy or time to actually put into the things that you want to do. So, yeah, capitalism is not great for mental health - not just for the racism and sexism and shit, but also because it robs people of the experience of being *actually* productive members of their society.
Charity in our capitalist society is testing lipstick on a pig. Charity has been so twisted. Need help? Can't pay? Great! Your body is going to be lab for students today! Complex condition made worse by lack of treatment due to lack of money? Great, you can be little Jimmy's first patient!
You can completely work on your own terms, easily be very productive AND not burn out. If you work to help others/contribute to society out of your own will and NOT out of ńecessity to survive/in survival mode. With a basic income, anyone could do this. You woulden t even have to convince others to hire you regardless of your dysfunctional body and pay for your work to be able to work and contribute.
A fair portion of the diagnostic model references how limiting the disability/illness is to productivity. I would put a lot of effort into work, but because my mental illness didn't show up *as much* in that space, I felt I wasn't "bad enough" to need help. I was finally able to get help but struggled for a long time thinking it was in the realm of "normal". Thank you for giving an explanation to that frustration. ❤️
This is an interesting discussion and a perspective I truly struggle to understand. I escaped my abusers by finding work outside the home. My job was my first truly safe space. I become paralyzed with fear at the thought of not being able to work. I don't tie my worth to it, but work and bring productive and feeling like I'm part of something good has been very healing for me personally.
Perhaps you feel that it's hard to understand because you're involved in a field that you see as something good. If that is the case, that's awesome and I'm very happy for you. However, most people are involved in their field solely because it keeps them housed and fed or nearly does and that's it. A lot of us are stuck in fields we do not morally or ethically agree with, but can't find work outside of. I am a vegan that cares immensely about animal rights and climate change, but I had to work for McDonald's for 4 years and now work in the coal industry. I feel that far more Americans are in a situation more similar to mine than to yours, where you find fulfillment and purpose in your work and I know the work I do directly contributes to the destruction of the planet. Majorly sucks, I truly wish that everyone could be doing work they find purposeful and fulfilling, but very few of us can.
Being productive CAN be valuable and good! For you it's freedom But when productivity becomes the highest good, it's a prison for people who can't provide value to capitalists
@@truecrimelover2022 I have a disability as well, and while it doesn't prevent me from working, I've been hospitalized a few times and that is just so financially draining. My best friend is on disability. She's a wonderful woman and so much more than what she can or can't do physically. So are you❤️
This was good to hear. I've been fighting to get on Social Security Disability for years now, and the capitalist machinery is really starting to bear down on me. I have several conditions (leukemia, glaucoma, side effects of the 13 medications I take daily) that limit me, but the big one is a herniated disc in my spine that prevents me from even leaving the house. And what really gets me is that I was a PASSENGER in the car that was in a really bad wreck that caused the spinal injury. I'm a total victim of my poor health and injured spine; I didn't do anything to get my body in this condition. I've had two lawyers represent me, yet SS has said basically that I'm fine, I should stop complaining about a little backache and a tummy ache (severe gastric distress from the chemo I need to take EVERY DAY FOR LIFE!!!), and get my broken ass back to work. If I was healthy, don't you think I would? Do you think I LIKE sitting in my house, in constant pain even though I take 4 pain medications, basically waiting to die!? If my shitty job just gave me a damn stool to use like the doctor told them while waiting to have my spinal fusion scheduled I wouldn't be here. If they let me get my surgery and THEN fired me I wouldn't care! Fire me the second I woke up from anaesthesia even! They gambled that the clock would run out on the temporary disability they forced me on, the third claim I had to make because of all my other problems. And they won. The little "problem" employee who needed a shit ton of time off constantly could finally be let go in a way that they couldn't be sued. Long story short, by the time I was finally able to get another surgeon it was too late and the damage is now permanent. Fuck the United States and it's selling out of every single resident to moneyed interests. If I could I'd try the novel argument that I need "medical asylum" in Canada or the EU where I might have some sort of social safety net. I know that such a thing doesn't exist, but if it did my ass would endure the horrifying pain of the plane trip across the Atlantic.
an injury to one is an injury to all. in my opinion, your suffering amounts to a crime against humanity bc allowing it has cheapened the soul of mankind as a whole. this is not pity, but rage. the US could burn and god would be just. best of luck to you
Hey, so, I'm 24. Able bodied, but recently sustained my first injury with lasting ramifications (partially tore my PCL knee ligament) around 5 months ago. The sheer.. _crushing stress,_ I endured having to so much as *interact* with our medical system at all, is shameful, to say the least. I presented to the ER, had five doctors visits, an MRI, and a brace. Which required a couple weeks wait during critical healing time- I put myself in the hole for upwards of three months to pay my medical bills as soon as possible. I had to go to my mom for food. But I finally got it sorted out. The stress lifted. It's been months of radio silence, injury's healing well, hope has returned-! ... and I get a call saying I'm due with the brace fitters for a *months worth of wages.* Apparently there's 'been a mistake', and I 'should call billing before it gets sent to collections'. So- people can just do that. We exist within a system that can demand a *whole f•cking months worth* of your time, by mistake. 'Ha ha-! Oopsie~ Oopsie poopsie. Just a wittle mistake. Life changing money that we think is entitled to us. It might be, it might not. Figure it out yourself~' ... So, that said.. I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE the sh•t you had to go through. Good lord. And yet you're still trucking. I get it, it's a random comment on a random video with fifteen likes or whatever but, god damn it, we're people. We can relate in other ways, but at a baseline, we're people.. But not to the ones who set this whole racket up.. And they're due for a reminder. Not saying it's going to involve fire.. or, pink.. bars of soap for that matter.. But you sure as sh•t reminded me. Keep fighting the good fight, and, I'll carry that with me as best I can Stay strong Chris *P.S.* And _f•ck these f•ck•ng m•th•rf•ck•rs_
Isn't the lead problem that SS is denying you? SS acknowledging you are in fact disabled, require and are deserving of benefits, would be basically a giant leap towards better? SS is a socialist government controlled system. And it seems like because you hate capitalism so much, you are willing to condemn it as evil, and turn even more power over to the government that is denying you the resources to get capitalist medical care, not realizing that socialist medical care would go right along with socialist SS, and deny medical care, because you are just fine in the government's view.
@@ThatTallBrendan well said...👏👏👏 FUCK 'em all, we need to take our lives back... THAT would be freedom. Not the right to bear a weapon that will take innocent lives, that's... insane. Anyway. Fight the good fight, we have to keep trying...👍☠️😬
As a Progressive Bi-Woman in a non-progressive town trying to find good therapy, this video was very validating. I'm literally surrounded by all of these oppressive systems and beliefs and often think things like, "How could I not be depressed when this is what I'm dealing with?" As also someone wanting to go into the counseling field this video is important in that front too. I would love more in-depth discussion on these topics, and don't worry if it's too long. Long videos are great too XD
❤Bisexual identified folks are the largest segment of the lgbtq community .Also bisexuals are @ the greatest risk for mh issues, domestic abuse and suicide.
100% agree on the relationship discussion. I talked to my OB for 15 minutes and she "diagnosed" me with depression and then started going over medication options. It's like, did you have corn in your ears? I told you my mom passed away and was going through a rough patch, I'm not clinically depressed. Doctors want to give you a pill, take your money and send you on your way.
This is such a great video. As a therapist myself, I find that when I think of my work, I don't particularly care if my Client has a job or not or if they're "productive". I just want to help them help themselves achieve a life that THEY find meaningful and enjoy living. However, all that being said since I practice out of the USA, much of that WILL be steeped in capitalism as financial barriers can be a huge barrier to such a life. I don't do my job to help clients go back to work, I do it so they FEEL better and be more content with themselves and their environments.
What happens if I CAN'T feel better about myself or my environment as long as I am forced to hold a job? I would rather end my life than work full time, it's absolutely terrifying to me, and utterly disheartening. What do people like me do? My part time barn work isn't going to pay the bills, and I can barely handle it, and I find it extremely rewarding. I still can't do it more than a few hours a week without spinning out in my head. I end up drinking to cope, and that's a very destructive path for me. So please tell me what I should do, because I really don't know, and it's really scary. Without my very understanding partner, I WOULD be homeless or in an institution. What are people like me supposed to do? Anyway, sorry. It's just scary and overwhelming and frustrating. Even more so because I know that objectively we shouldn't HAVE to live this way...
It took me 8 months to find my therapist who I love but I know I won’t be able to see her long bc she doesn’t take my insurance. Thank you for sharing resources and giving us hope 💕
My one tip on finding a therapist is to find someone who seems like a fit and even if they don't have availability, email and ask if they have anyone in their professional network they can recommend who matches your criteria. Found my current therapist by following a chain of a few therapists like this, and now they're referring me to someone else with more experience in a specific area. Good luck and hang in there to anyone needing support right now. You shouldn't have to be this strong, but I know you are.
I never heard a therapist make the connection between mental health and the socioeconomic health of the place we live in. Thank you so much for acknowledging this much-needed issue 🙏🏻
I have been saying this for years amongst close friends! Like not to knock therapy but as someone who researched mental health seeking behaviors you really recognize that pushing therapy in most cases is a bandaid to a wider societal ill. Therapy is a treatment option as pharmaceuticals are in biophysical medicine. It’s not preventive. I have always felt therapy didn’t work for me. This video basically sums up my thoughts perfectly
Yeah I’ve resigned to the fact CBT and talk therapy are like giving Tylenol for a broken leg. It doesn’t fix anything and sometimes doesn’t even help mask symptoms!
How does one reconcile legitimate systemic criticisms of the medical field with the fact that people like anti-vaxxers also exist and use some similar arguments?
Wow. I literally have tears burning my eyes... this has been so spot on, validating and cathartic... traumatic, religious, childhood with undiagnosed adhd/asd, ptsd, scoliosis, carpal tunnel, vein, nerve and arthritis issues since teen years.... more trauma and abu$e through teen and adult years... but Dr's and family would never hear me. I was being a hypochondriac, over exaggerating, attention or drug seeking etc etc... instead of just listening to me, trying to understand. I'm still trying to sort everything out.. and find a therapist that doesn't just cause more trauma, shame or just brings up all my crap but doesn't help me with any actionable steps to take (other than meditation and "self care" which I already do as much as I can but single mom to 2 boys with disabilities.... I get no monetary support other that 200$ per month in child support, but no contact and nothing but medical card and food stamps from the state. I worked for 25 years, making all if conditions worse and now I'm in a race to save and fix what I can... I already have a lot of nerve damage and now reynauds phenomenon.... What you have talked about really makes me think this might be why I feel I've never gelled with a therapist .... the ones I saw seemed to take that view of you aren't thriving unless you are a productive member of society (which means a cog in the capitalism wheel, if you aren't independently wealthy or from a wealthy family). Most of My family, Dr's and therapists have made me feel broken, like everything was my fault...I was just doing (it, life, religion, socializing etc) wrong. That leads to a whole host of issues nobody is willing to see and it's absolutely maddening. OK so I just totally vented. But I'm gonna post it and hope that it helps someone else feel a little solidarity.
solidarity forever. someday capitalism will end, but until then, i hope you find some relief. thanks for posting, so many comments on this video have really made me feel a touch more sane
I struggle with severe mental health issues and chronic pain. I actually like working because it keeps me busy, but if I didn't have to work for a company that takes advantage of me and mistreats employees, my mental health would be much, much better.
I've been struggling to hold a job since I have been old enough to get one and trying to work on myself to "fix" it for just about as long. The most upsetting part is that it seems to be impossible to tell whether there's really something wrong with me that should be medicated or if I would be fine if I could do work where my contributions were valued and that paid me enough to live.
as a therapist in training this is the sort of thing that keeps me up at night :') i worry so much about how to help people with the very real issues of capitalism and not wanting to enforce capitalistic norms but also helping people deal with the reality that capitalism is for now an inescapable reality. thank you for taking on this topic ♥️
This topic is so important to me! Thank you for bringing it up. A big struggle I've been having this year has been the nuance between acknowledging that the biggest source of mental illness struggles is environmental (on the one hand), and the importance of figuring out healthy coping strategies or ways to regulate/navigate one's reactions to that shit (on the other hand). Social media discourse famously hates nuance, and the "the problem is the system, quit talking about individual resilience" rhetoric as I saw it presented in memes and sound bites interacted with my autistic brain (taking things too literally) in a really dangerous way. Since I started putting resilience work back in my life, my emotional balance has been slowly returning. Anyway, all this to say: that's a way in which the neoliberal misuse of mental health language (and the general vibe of neoliberal bullshit) has impacted my life.
I'm a therapist in Michigan and just so happy to find you. This is exactly where my work has been growing towards. I loved how you say "Reclaiming my time". I very much want to connect with other professionals that share our beliefs.
I just graduated with a master's in psychology. I have no desire to be clinical for this very reason. Getting my certification/hours is a no go because all of the places I could get that from are more concerned with the amount of money they can make off of their therapists and no concern for the amount of strain they put on their therapists and even less concern for the kind of therapy that is happening. I also hate that the mental health help isn't available to so many low income people. Many times the justice system is the only kind of therapy those who are profoundly mentally ill ever get. I don't know what to do about that. All of those white men were also rich!! They were lookin out for their factory owner buddies.
My therapy session I had yesterday pretty much encompassed this topic. I also find a lot of people use the world resilient as a back handed compliment. Especially towards black women. As though we’ve failed and are weak for not being able to be a productive working under the capitalist system that often excludes, if not outright harms us. I was so glad my therapist agreed with me, especially since I live in a mostly white state and I don’t have easy access to mental health professionals…or any professionals of color where I live. Which is unfortunate, but glad I found a therapist that fits on my first try in a new town! Loooool
I think another component that is helpful to consider when practicing as a therapist or when trying to find your own is therapeutic modality. I love post modern systemic approaches like Narrative therapy because an examination of larger cultural norms and systems is built into the approach. In my program we are also talking a lot about sociocultural attunement and learning to pay attention to how larger unjust hierarchies recapitulate themselves in relationships and how to amplify the voices of clients who are not being heard.
Love love love that! In Italy it isn’t really talk about yet, hope we can move forward. I think also be a little more open to integrate different approach can be really amazing, I see the system being a little bit strict and closed minds toward other school of tought. What do you think about the new emerging reasearch that suggest that the different methods don’t differ so much in the outcome? Do you think that the focus will shift more on the therapist-patient relationships and less on the methodology? I’m not a therapist, but I find it interesting. I totally understand that being evidence-based is a MUST, so some reference and guideline are totally needed.
@@annaalessandrini9965 The way I have been taught is that while it is true that the common factors (like rapport between the client and the therapist, etc.) are some of the best predictors of positive outcome in therapy a therapist's epistemology is still an important part of how they see the world. It's a guiding philosophy of sorts and as a client looking into what different therapy modalities say about how change works and finding what speaks to you could be helpful in your quest to find a therapist that will work for you. For example if you think that the idea of a "shadow self" as a metaphor for parts of yourself that are hard to accept sounds right to you a Jungian therapist would be a good fit. If instead you find too much metaphorical language in therapy frustrating and you want to focus on the now then something more straightforward like solutions focused would be a better fit for you. Basically, a lot of paths can lead to the same place but the journey will be smoother on the path that you are most equipped for.
@@rochellerodriguez6431 Omg thank you so so much, you explain it so well❤️ it makes a lot of sense, probably could help patients to find a better match too!
Hey Mickey! I'm 31 years old, and I spent my 20s being a low-wages worker. I'm back to school since 2020, I'm at the moment a psychology student in college and I want to become a clinician. To me, it felt like it was the best path to save myself and maybe help others in the same way. In my classes, issues like depression are discussed as a major cause of a loss of economic productivity and stuff like that. But, at the same time, the capitalist system itself is never, ever questioned as one of the possible causes of mental health issues, which I find VERY fucked up and infuriating, to the point where it's making me insecure about my choice in the first place. It feels like the whole domain is scared of politics or completely blind to it, as if it was a bad thing to actively question society and its core values. But isn't that questioning what psychotherapy is supposed to be? Thank you for your video, it's encouraging to see that I'm apparently not the only one who feels like we need to seriously question neo-liberal capitalism from a psychological perspective. After all, no revolution of any kind can happen before first changing the way we think about ourselves and about our place in this world. Sorry for my bad English. ^^'
Sure, we'll need to feed and cloth another "revolutionary" blah blah blah artist if you'll ever make it in your field. Why don't you revolutionize life in your immediate proximity before embracing change the world dreamscape? Loss of productivity and $ leads to the social segregation if not isolation. Suprisingly genuine low level parasites without shame or consciousness are generally immune to that. They commune and do drugs together, they are quite a content bunch. Don't try your revolution talk on them.
Im also a psychology student that wanted to become a clinician or work as a research. I slowly become disenchanted with some classes. But authors like Ian Parker are psychologist that write about the issues from the inside. Also theres research about how giving money to people reduces depressive symptoms more than therapy. The sad truth is that some situations cannot be fixed. Usually depression is seen as a burden to society and we dont even know why people get depressed and why the meds work.
@@earlydest I totally get the feeling! It tends to make me low key angry sometimes, lol. But I'll definitely look up Ian Parker, thanks for the suggestion :)
I can’t get over how perfect timing your videos are and how much of a breakthrough you have led me to psychologically and emotionally. I feel re-energized and inspired to continue to navigate the mental health industry, thank you so much for providing the links to different resources that I did not know about.
Even with my therapy, i feel Im pressured into finding work. I haven’t had a traditional job. Been disabled my entire life with it progressing in Mid teens to early adulthood. I’m 25. I want to work, there is just so much struggle and not enough accommodations and accessibility.
Wow, thank you. I am writing a paper on a policy analysis of the BC Mental Health Act as you speak today! I am looking through the lens of intersectionality and decolonization in order to asses equity and inclusion. Yes! we do need to address how Euro-paternalistic ideals that rob folks of self determination and epistemological justice! I just love your channel!
Hi Mickey, only recently subbed to you after finding your channel towards the end of last year and I want to say thank you. Not only has your channel been very informative for me when it comes to therapy, mental health, relationships and so much more, but it also feels very welcoming, inclusive and safe here. I'm still very much trying to figure out who I am in many ways, (for example i'm a guy that really wants to try wearing feminine clothing but i'm still working up the courage to do so), but knowing that there are kind, accepting and supportive people like you and the community around your channel really helps me. So thank you once again! ❤ :3
I really appreciate your view on the therapist-client relathionship. There’s a lot of power imbalance and the “medical authority model” can be even more problematic in the relathionship more constant and intimate that exist in a therapy setting
I'm so glad you made this video my mom has a chronic illness and lots of health issues, so it's hard for her to work a lot. She gets crap from my family for it despite her making more money working part time now than at her last job that had a 40 hour work week. People only care about productivity and it's unfortunate that society only values people who are productive.
The difficult thing for me is that I want to be productive - just not in the way it is perpetuated in capitalism. I want to be productive in the sense to help create what is of use to me and others. I don't want to work for someone else or for me, but for the collective. I find this sort of productivity healing. I just struggle to find ways to implement that in our capitalistic society. I feel like to be productive in that sort of way, you need to already have resources to use, and for those you would have to already work under the capitalist machine, leaving you with less energy and time to do that.
This is one of the most validating videos I’ve ever seen, thank you. It’s nice to hear people talk about our oppressive society, it seems so taboo everywhere.
I'm a 2nd year MSW student. I like therapy and connecting with people. But I've been grappling with this (and questioning the profession as being an enabler). Other aspects of the field are more than enabling and serve as a "soft" arm of the state (jailing and separating poor families).
This video means a lot to me. Ever since my physical and mental health plummeted I’ve felt like I’m not a real person for not contributing to the economy, and this topic of going to therapy to get you to be “normal” and honestly doing something that at the end of the day doesn’t even matter so I can be viewed as a human being again has been so painful. Thank you for talking about this issue. It’s exactly why when my doctors try to push me into therapy I don’t want it. Not to mention their therapist downplays the physical pain I’m in and only wants to discuss surface level issues when I have a lifetime of trauma keeping me stuck. I didn’t think about reclaiming my life as an act of rebellion, but I’m glad I could hear this to plant that seed. I really have felt so lost, and this is the talk I needed to hear. Thank you. Oh by the way I took a chance and emailed a therapist you linked for sliding scale. Will update with hopefully good news.
Really interesting perspective on use of client/patient. I’m not a practitioner but someone who’s needed mental health services throughout my life. For me, viewing my mental health struggles as nothing different than going to a doctor for my body was what unlocked me being able to get care. Normalizing mental healthcare as one additional component in my overall health was so freeing. It enabled me to say, it’s not me who’s broken, there’s just a part that isn’t functioning well just like a diabetic. So I really like “patient.” For me, client feels so transactional.
yup... the fact that therapists and counsels can't think of a better word than "client" to describe the ppl they provide their services to is the first red flag among many
Thank you for this topic. I know it's difficult. As an anthropologist, I understand where you're coming from when you talk about clinicians being stuck. Both of our fields started out defining the other. Now they are at the forefront of redefining and taking back for those who have been othered for so long.
My current goal in therapy is to be able to return to work. That is what the insurance company requires. I definitely don’t feel like any of it is to actually help me.
That is so sad, and wrong. Please remember you are worth far more than what you can earn, we might not be quite as sick as we think, our "issues' could actually be strengths in a society that had different expectations of what normal should be... It's the world, not us, and that's NOT FAIR... Best of luck, I hope you find a way that honors your humanity and lets you find some peace, not just a job...
I’ve been wondering how to cope with living in a capitalistic hellscape for like a few months at this point lol and it’s a constant battle! It was so validating to hear you talk about this and acknowledge there’s no one single answer to the problem, and also open the conversation about how therapy is often a means to “fix” mental illness to function in the machine. The other day I saw someone say something along the lines of “healing means nothing when you’re measuring it against a very sick society” & I felt it really encapsulates this issue-our society is really fractured right now, and I was having such a difficult time figuring out how I could navigate therapy when a lot of what I struggle with are things outside of my control. Anyways. I really love everything you said in this video.
I’m lucky to have a progressive therapist and she helps me understand that “all these systems unfortunately have to work together and they don’t…” and it helps me alleviate some anxiety knowing that I’m not part of the problem.
THANK YOU!! I’ve always been unheard by my therapists because they never came from a marginalized group and just kind of said what you said; coping skill out of it. 💛
It was so lovely listening to you talk about this extremely interesting topic and recognizing that my therapist has been doing the things you recommend from the jump (without her ever even mentioning capitalism). It has been so healing work with her on redefining my value as inherently in me and not from what I produce for society.
This really spoke to me. I'm currently working on redefining my value as inherently in me instead of what I eat or what I look like. I'm trying to shed my emotional investment in toxic cultural systems that feed capitalism by just not caring about them anymore. But it's a process. Old habits are hard to break.
I come across this alllll the time in therapy. I can deal with my disabilities and ocd okay enough without outside pressure dictating what I have to do, but capitalism just makes everything so much worse. I can't live alone for one, so I have to live with my parents because I have no interest in or have the ability to have a partner. I also can only work about 30 hours a week max and need flexible hours at-home work, which is hard to find and is often low-paying. But I need that money to pay my ridiculous medical expenses (which would DESTROY me if it weren't for the ACA) and of course my therapist lol. I only have so many good hours in a day before I'm totally exhausted, and basically, all of that goes into working and otherwise maintaining myself. There's very little I do in my life that's fulfilling because I just don't have enough spoons for it. No friends to hang out with, no meaningful hobbies. Just surviving. My therapist is progressive, she also hates the state of society and thinks capitalism is destroying us, ESPECIALLY the vulnerable and weak. After years of failing in the public school system, failing in the workforce, failing as a patient (permanently disabled) and failing to be what society "wants" (productive cog) I have basically no self-esteem and consider myself a failure as a person now. When I see conservatives continue to push legislation that would make my life harder and cut me off from resources, I think to myself, wow, a huge majority of people in this country want me to either suffer more, or more conveniently, not exist!!! Like how am I supposed to get anywhere in therapy if my very existence is an affront to the world I live in? I find myself becoming more and more despondent. The joy is being sucked out of me. My life is meaningless. Everything I want are all things that are impossible. I'm never going to be able to create art or friendship or leave any kind of mark on this world when I'm exhausted all the time. It doesn't help when I've been in inpatient / intensive outpatient treatment, psych wards, etc, where all their goals were always the usual: Work 40 hours a week, get out of your parent's house, get off your meds, etc. They don't care about your happiness. They just want you to be productive, no matter how impossible it is. It just makes me want to give up.
I am in a very similar situation, except I have no living family to support or even help me- I have an excellent partner who supports me, but the guilt and shame I feel is huge at not being able to help him in any financially demonstrable way, I sometimes wish i wasn't alive, and I most definitely don't WANT to die, I just can't afford to live... Best of luck to you, I hope it works out somehow!
This is amazing. I cannot tell you how many times I have felt similar about how companies have manipulated the therapy industry to benefit their own agenda (i.e., profits via productivity.) Instead of playing off of employees' strengths, they try to enforce these expectations that everyone should think, present and behave the exact same way because being (let's call it what it is, overly eager extroverts who live to do nothing more than serve (aka workhorses) is what benefits companies the most. Frankly, it is the lazy and unimaginative way of running these companies/corporations. Yet, it goes so much deeper than this, and I learned this recently when I came across a hurdle I am facing in trying to earn a bachelor's degree from the university I attend. They have a requirement for anyone trying to earn a degree, regardless of what they plan on doing with their lives, to take an "Oral Communications" class. The problem is they call it "Oral Communications," but it always requires either standing in front of an audience or posting a video of themselves (in the case of the class I did attempt to take showing at least the waist up to the face). What gets me is that they don't care how negative this may make someone feel. For me, it is mentally debilitating. I hate what I see when I am on camera and when I look in the mirror (and it has gotten worse as I have gotten older and gained weight), so when I have to put myself on display for other people to view, that is all I can think about; all the horrible things I have heard someone say in the past, or the thoughts I have about myself being vocalized internally by the audience. Videos and photos are honestly worse because they are images of me that can be accessed over and over again, forever. What really gets me, though, is that they call it "Oral Communications." So, if that is an accurate descriptor of the requirement, why are the assignments not just done using audio recordings? After all, that is how online Modern Languages classes work. To me, it is just the common trope in our society that extroverts are better for any role at any given time, and fuck all to the introverts. I tried requesting an alternative, explaining my situation telling them I would be willing to take a writing course which is part of the Communications department, but they came back with the whole maybe I should seek professional help. Implying that there is something wrong with me for not wanting to be on camera or in the spotlight. Why? Why is being this way seen as a bad thing? Especially in our current "look at me" Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook society? Couldn't we really use more people who would rather send out meaningful messages in the form of written expression or even just audio recordings? You know, something people may actually have to take the time to read, or Odin forbid, actually listening to someone based on what they are saying and not just clicking on their media because of how they look? But no, I am wrong according to our society, which unfortunately is run by greedy capitalists robots. Individualism and creative minds are snuffed out. On that note, even if I was one of the most beautiful women on the planet, if I still had the same personality I do now, I would not want to be the center of attention or in the spotlight in any capacity. It is not who I am. I think it is ridiculous that everywhere I go, there is not only an obsession with wanting everyone to be extroverts but also expecting people to not give an ounce of thought to their own privacy. We are expected to not have up any walls and always just let anyone and everyone invade our privacy, space, and time. At any given time, be available and ready at their convenience and completely sacrifice our own. (At least, that has been the experience for me.)
Hello, I am a new anti-capitalist therapist (graduated May 2021) and I have been STRUGGLING. Not only because I am expected to BE a cog in the capitalist machine but also because there are latent expectations that I churn out MORE COGS (my clients). There are times I give into resignation and despair because I feel like I do not fit into the larger mental health field and actively resist and challenge diagnostics and increasing patholoization of the human experience. Thank you for making a video about that that come at a time I really need it. Everyday I think about leaving the field but today I have hope reading these comments and hearing you speak.
This is such an important topic, and even in what you were able to touch upon I learned a lot. I saw Fab Socialism’s BetterHelp video earlier, too, and I’m so glad you chose to follow up on it with a video of your own!
This is the first time I've seen an explicitly anti-capitalist video on therapy and related topics, at least from anyone who works in the field. I always assume people who make these videos do so from an ostensibly apolitical perspective, which means in practice, pro-capitalist. That means I've tended to have the two areas of discourse mostly separated in my mind. I wonder increasingly about how they should intersect, but I don't have many answers. This video seems like a great first step towards integrating the discussion. It recognizes the fact that pursuing mental health happens in a world that wants us dead, or at best, wants us to be dehumanized exploitable robots. I'm very grateful for the discussion. For what it's worth, I'm noticing more and more youtube creators use the kind of language you use in this video, i.e., language that recognizes the need for revolution. Five years ago this would have been unthinkable on youtube, except among the tiny subset of nearly-invisible explicitly communist and anarchist channels. The best-known leftist channels rarely spoke this way. But I see it now in many channels that are larger than those old ones, channels which are not restricted to a single clearly-defined radical ideology. This makes me very happy. But I wonder what will happen if youtube starts to notice. One more note on this video: I've always thought that much of the language used to talk about mental health, and the kind of life that's considered the ideal, is functionally a distraction from the realities of the world as it is -- capitalist, racist, misogynist, homophobic, etc. In other words, we are told that we should strive to "live our best lives," and it's taken for granted that our society does not make this extremely difficult, or impossible, for most people. So the world of therapy rests on a fundamental contradiction. You didn't express these issues in this fashion, but what I see your video doing is moving in the direction of addressing that contradiction. Thank you so very much. Edit: just to clarify: I know "revolution" is a loaded term. When I say revolution I mean destroying white supremacist patriarchal capitalism and replacing it with a system that seeks the welfare of every human being. I'm not saying anything about tactics, but I am saying that reformism is insufficient to address what needs to happen.
For so long, I thought that there was something fundamentally wrong with me- why was I depressed, I had a great life and so much to be grateful for. When looking for the answer it always led to capitalism. My value was tied to work and school. Over the years those feelings waned because I found a passion entirely removed from capitalism (aka the reward was simple participation and self growth through the sport, instead of money). But still those feelings stuck in the back of my mind and I just wanted to say- old me would have loved to see this. It may not be a healing video but it sure as hell could have set me on a better path of acceptance early on.
this was a really interesting video! i went thru a whole childhood of court ordered therapy and psychiatry and couldnt find more than one single person who made me feel like a human
Tbh as I was listening (prior to the 5 minutes mark) I realized that I (a therapist myself) think doctors should work to be more like therapists in terms of the way they view patients and treat them. I've had so many negative interactions with physicians recently where I didn't get enough time or information about the problem I needed addressed. Also the therapy I do with my clients doesn't feel like making capitalism stronger. I think I do a decent job to help people find their joy and take their time back from capitalism. Glad you made the video.
I don’t think that labeling my mental health problems as “problems” is disempowering 🤷🏻♀️ for me, identifying the problem is where I start planning how I’m going to handle it.
I think I understand both sides. Labelling mental illness as a problem is helpful in the sense that it validates the fact that someone is deeply struggling with their mental health. This means that it doesn't just have to do with how productive that person is, but how they feel on a daily basis, which is personal and empowering. However, saying that being upset with the state of the world makes someone "ill" invalidates the fact that the world is a fundamentally f-cked up place and we SHOULD have emotional conflict living in it.
Thank you so much for continuing this conversation. Your comments hit me squarely in my mid-life re-evaluation of direction. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m leaving in the world, hearing about the connection to the ideals of capitalism and the pressure implied there was exactly what I needed today to ease that burden.
You said the thing! The thing that's always there and nags at the back of your mind in therapy, there it is! Not coping skills. Loving ourselves and our lives skills first.
Wow thank you for this video. I am currently in school to be an art therapist, and this is what a lot of our discussions are about. We are helpers, not fixers. Each individual holds their own empowerment and answers, and to apply any arbitrary western medical model onto a complex and multidimensional person without consideration for what does not fit in that model, does them a disservice. Well done! 🌸🌸
This is a topic ive thought about a lot. Like. Mental illness is, to my best understanding, basically defined as "youre so different that youre having a hard time" Like. I genuinely think my amount of anxiety is the amount of anxiety that i should have given what life is like for me. And the fact that like a crazy amount of people are so different that they are having a hard time means that we need to change normal, not change us. One of my biggest struggles is that i genuinely believe that im taking drugs (prescribed) to pretend im supposed to exist in the world as it is. Im not. And many people arent. And us all forcing ourself to fit into a normal enough mold to survive... like on an individual level, its helpful, but on a societal level, it seems like getting drunk and ignoring the problem.
Was interesting hearing you talk about patient v client. I live in Australia and when I used to see the community mental health team when you were inpatient you were a patient, when you saw your case manager you were a client. Towards the end of when I was seeing that team there was a move to call people consumers instead. The rationale was that changing the wording from client to consumer meant that the person using the service felt more like they were involved in the process rather than it was something being done to them.
I am so excited to hear about this topic, but especially so from Mickey! I’ve just finished my Career Development textbook, and the chapters on job transfer and taking a job after retirement really had me thinking dark thoughts.
I have a very strained relationship with therapy, to say the least. In my country, you can be forced to attend therapy in order to receive unemployment benefits, which is what happened to me when I had dropped out of school due to depression and anxiety caused by bullying. To me, therapy felt like an unfair punishment - my bullies were backpacking in Cambodia, I was in therapy. The focus on the individual, far from feeling empowering, always felt like victim-blaming to me. The problem wasn't society, it was my thoughts, feelings and behaviours which were all "wrong". If I wanted a chance at a "normal" life, the one other girls my age had, I had to be "a good patient" and "function". So I did. I stopped going to the mandated therapy, but I lost weight, stopped drinking, self-harming etc. went back to school, got a job - you name it, I did it - to escape therapy. Back then I had vowed to never enter a therapist's office again. I have a life that I love and worked hard for and I am happy. Haven't had a major depressive episode in almost a decade. Do I still have bad days? Sure, but they aren't the majority. However, I am still very aware of my past and extremely afraid of "falling back into it", which is why I'm meticulous about "doing things right" - exercising, diet, mindfulness, whatever. There is a coworker, let us call her Susan, who I used to be friends with and who knows most of my past. Susan is a huge fan of psychodynamic therapy and has been trying to push me to undego it. The first time she did so, I had a massive panic attack and couldn't function for a few days, because the thought of going back to therapy to me meant losing this life that I love so much. When I explained this to Susan, she called my reaction "excessive" and "unhealed trauma" - which is of course why I need therapy :P She did that a few more times, calling me anything from immature to narcissistic, until I finally stopped talking to her outside of meetings. As this community seems pro-therapy, here are some questions: Is Susan right? Do I "have to" go to therapy and "have to" work through my trauma? Should people ever be forced to undergo therapy? Is it possible to live a happy, healthy, "productive" life without going to therapy? For now, i maintain my stance that therapy isn't for me and my right to live a life free from therapy, because to me the life I have gained, have built for myself, is far too precious to risk for the undefined benefits that may be gained from "working through it". But in contemporary Western society, therapy has become so hegemonic, that short of moving to Papua New Guinea, I don't think I will be able to avoid "Susans" in the future. So how does someone like me engage with the pro-therapy community? Can we find a way to co-exist?
I feel like the ideals that therapy promotes are honestly anti capitalist, which is what we need. My family bitches about ai taking jobs (now and later on) and then are also upset that less people are having families etc. but if people are happier it doesn’t matter! I hope ai can be used for jobs that suck for humans and for “working” to be more of a choice somehow. Idk how we could achieve that tho
Thanks for covering this topic. My own therapists (four different ones over my lifetime) have never covered this, or even suggested any simple living, anticapitalist or mutual aid solutions. The paradigm was always that it was me, not my environment, that needed to be worked on.
I think I would benefit from therapy but since I lack the financial stability for it, I have to make do with whatever advice I get from books and videos like the ones Mickey and Dr. Tracey Marks make. Having online friends who talk about what they do to manage their symptoms and the therapies they've tried helps, too.
Brilliant. I'm going to be starting school to become a therapist next year, and I will definitely be returning to this video in the future. Also, friendly book recommendation: Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey. So. Damn. Good.
yes. more of this conversation. This system doesn't allow for anyone to have differing skill sets. What if we let people do what they could do that no one else could? What if we let people do what they are good at? What if we viewed all contributions to society as valuable, whether those contributions could be easily shared or not, whether they could make a profit for someone or not, whether they took 40 hours a week or not? What if we recognized that a person who must spend 40-60 hours per week taking care of themselves was not "a sponge" because they werent' spending another 40 making a profit for someone else, but was, in fact, contributing to society by taking care of themselves, freeing others who might have to care for them if they WERE working 40 hours per week , so that those others might contribute in turn.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, am 66, disabled, and have had numerous psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, and licenced social workers tell me that this region has no problems with systemic, intersectional, racialized class, that modern psychology has no opinion about racism, that there is nothing I can do about the racist beliefs and actions of others, that my heath depends on my acceptance of this reality. When I have asked what the basis is, what school of thought informs various individuated and group therapy programs offered, the reaction is thinly veiled anger at my my hubris for daring to ask, the suggestion I wouldn't understand if explained, abruptly being told I wasn't suitable for the group, another cussed me out on the phone and hung up. I never see representation among BIPOC professionals in mental health and there are negative bias-driven behaviors by providers that I experience as a Black Trans Woman that white, Latino, Asian, and other POC higher within the racialized class system do not.
Thank you so much for this, i knew deep inside when seeing three different therapists that they were not for me, you covered everything that was expressed to me in therapy which did not work for my particular issues/condition. I am a black gay man, it seems therapy is just now becoming what I need to take from it. Honestly I wish you had online availability. Thank you once again.🙏🏽
Omfg. My mom is a licensed therapist and I was JUST having a similar conversation about this with her. She is so emotionally burnt out and works so much. Something that really fucking pisses me off is when people say just the most ghastly ignorant shit like “well why did you become a counselor? you’re not going to make money blah blah blah” or whatever some dumb shit and it’s mindless regurgitated capitalist thinking. I tell those people, um, do you realize not every person can go into STEM, right? Like that’s not how a marketplace works unless you want a field way over-saturated with STEM majors and all other kinds of industries that are fundamental to literally living everyday would go kaput. As a STEM major myself, this seems like some pretty basic shit to understand, but I digress. We need to divorce this “everything is for a profit” bullshit because it’s a literal fucking unbridled capitalistic hellscape that is running everyone (minus those at the tippy top) into the ground).
Im glad you are starting talking about this. I was recently on an IOP, and i eventually got frustrated and diacouraged bc like...when i talked about my issues (long covid, the ongoing pandemic, the genocide attempt happening against trans people) they had 0 idea how to like..talk to me about it. It was all just coping skills and redirecting thoughts and shit i legit already have bc ive been in and out of theraoy since i was 15. It was shit that was just about getting patients back to some kind of normal and working again. I understlod that their focus was getting people out of a mental health crisis to a more stable position, but it also feels like..actual gaslighting? Like telling me i'm not seeing the situation clearly bc i'm tired of constantly fighting, and not being able to comprehend how exhausting it is to live as a very marginalized person in our society. It made me feel worse in fact, and they were gonna dump me anyway bc my long covid fatigue made it so hard to go every single day and they were not willing to work with me haha. So i quit. And its like..because its all of this. Its this production focused therapy, and it not helpful. In fact it just makes you feel like what you feel isnt real or that it matters, and that youre just weak and sick for not being able to take it anymore. So. Yeah. I hope more therapists like you become more common. Therapy shouldnt be a tool to better prolong capitalism and oppression.
Thank you for this important discussion and bringing awareness to the bleakness of the state right now!!! I’m a social work student and I’m working my hardest to try to mitigate the effects of capitalism and where social work has failed previously to make changes. Everything that you’ve talked about in your video is literally everything I have been learning about and discussing in my program. This is so so so so relevant and I appreciated like-minded individuals sharing their perspective amongst the sea of the typical rhetorics and narratives seen in society today. Thank you for making the content that you do!!!!
Most of the first 11 years of therapy we went through was not about helping us to feel better, but about showing less visible signs of distress 😐 Now we need therapy for our therapy trauma 😅 in addition to what we originally went to therapy for.
The algorithm pushed this video into my feed today, and the title caught my eye! I didn't know that this concept is being discussed-- glad to see it! We are going through a major shift in society right now, people questioning the status quo all over. Such an interesting and complicated topic presented here, much appreciated
thank you so much for taking on this topic! the impact of living in a capitalist hellscape cannot be understated when the rise in mental illnesses among (young) people is discussed. I'm lucky to have found a therapist who keeps this in mind.
I remember when i was talking to my ex therapist about how being autistic in a capitalist society, knowing i probably will be stuck in a job that ill hate, working 10h a day, contributes a lot to my suicidal and hopeless thoughts. She proceeded to tell me that I don't have the right to kill myself because i have a talent that some people would give anything for (im an artist). Great, thanks doc. I really appreciated being told that i cant even have the freedom to die because my abilities and productivity is too valuable to be wasted 💀
As has often been said, “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
The most successful people of today are 🦇💩
You’re fckin right.
Just to add more info, that’s a quote from philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. He said a lot of good stuff :)
ayyy is that fromm?
Well, I would go with the title of this video -without the question mark and add "Boy" in front of it. I was always so scared to be sent back into the system/market that I knew was the problem that made me and so many other people burn out again and again, worse and worse each time. Therapists can do such a good job, but itś all for nothing when society throw the fixed people back into the system of productivety for econimic growth -the system that makes both people and the planet sick in the first place! Thatś no development for the better, neather for the individuals, nor for their societies or the world of finite resources they all live off. Actually, thereś research that shows people who burnt out once are more prone to burnout and more severe mental conditions a few years later, when thrown back into the idiotic system that destroys both planet resources and peoples ability to function!
But the root reason for this is taxation of work, which makes politicians dependent on highly productive workers. Instead, they should offcourse put more taxes on the larger companies that destroy the most resources.
I have a Masters degree in Engineering, and I have had 4 heart attacks due to corporate induced stress I'm 55! Corporate greed is killing us.
hi you should look into breathing techniques to reduce stress
@@LUVRG1RL breathing techniques can only do so much - especially when you have both tremendous physical and psychological stress put upon you as seen in many modern work environments....
@@Chris47368 these are Band-Aid solutions
So sorry friend. I hope you are taking care and no longer in that horrible environment.
@@Chris47368 i know, but it still helps
I had a therapist a couple decades ago who I don’t believe helped me with what I went to her for but I always remember her saying “I don’t believe that everyone must work.” and “It’s ok if you don’t work. Not everyone has to work.” I thought I had wasted all that time with therapy but now I see that she helped me a lot just not with what I wanted at the time. She was decades ahead of her time about end stage capitalism. Thank you, lady in San Francisco. 🙏
Then how will you earn money to survive?
Of course it was San Francisco
@@laynamonk4023 work at home or government help
*late stage. There's no reason to think capitalism is in the final stage. "late stage" just means "the state of capitalism, as of late", like saying "how capitalism has been lately".
@@laynamonk4023 Actually, we do not need money to survive. We need food, water, shelter, peace, comaraderie, sleep, and exercise. And access to sanitation. In a world where not everyone is forced to work (via rent/utilities/insurance/food prices), we would be able to produce plenty, thanks in large part to our highly advanced technologies and machinery. How many farmers are needed to fill silos? How many cooks are needed to serve tens of thousands of meals every single day? How many truck drivers and how many spiritual leaders and how many dock/rail workers? If we're being honest, the great majority of us do not have jobs that are essential to our collective survival. And there is also no lack of resources. It's misallocated. Powerful people dont want to share what they have, and they want to call us lazy and blame us for our lack. Yet something as petty as stealing food or clothing from a retail outlet gets cops, Asset protection, private security, and random Good Samaritan Citizens all on your ass trying to choke you to death. Nah, none of us need to work. Fact many of us DONT work, that's what TV shows like "The Office" are about! It's all a sham. These jobs just to make us feel and look busy. Appear productive and dont you dare ever stop spending your money. In reality, most of us should be living life in leisure, with the free time, energy, and well-rested minds to heal trauma, to innovate for our genuine human benefit, to create art.. I think that the human condition would be changed in ways that we really cant imagine in the youtube comment section
- Source: i am a different lady in San Francisco (In the past i have worked as a cook/retail/meatcutter)
I have desperately tried to explain to my psych that I can handle what's going on inside of me. I've learned to manage that. It's the oppressiveness of forces acting upon me that's the problem right now. I can't get anyone in my care team, especially social workers, to call me back so that I can get financial help for myself and my family.
Everyone in the medical profession needs to be an advocate for us.
I have had similar experience where im constantly being told im not trying hard enough and then changed medication and alot of my problems with regulating mood are subsiding. I hate the fact that people in these fields label their clients or just write them off just because they seem normal to them or just abit too senstive whatever thats suppose to mean. Its like you unesscarily struggle for years with the wrong medication and therapy and your the one whose just not trying hard enough. Ive grown to just distrust and dislike therapists now. I feel bad saying that but thats how i feel :/
@@me6796 I too hate the fact that the conventional medical attitude is to fix people by making them suppress/hide their symptoms and be compliant/submissive to the treatment, instead of focusing on how to change the environmental/structural factors, and finding alternate paths where a person can truly feel safe & thrive.
Set up a go fund me
They have a lot of people they have to advocate for sadly, if someone is not calling you back one day it very well might be because they are calling back fifteen other people.
Most likely those medical workers are being exploited and overworked. Have you considered what YOU can do to advocate for them? No criticism of you, you absolutely deserve the best care. I’m simply pointing out that in a broken system, asking individuals to do their job better isn’t going to solve the problem
I'm disabled. I have a rare genetic condition that didn't show up (flare) until I was an adult. My now adult children also have the condition and are disabled. I've been told by relatives that I should just off myself because I'm a burden on my husband, my family, culture, and society. I really appreciate this video. I don't believe that my value is in my ability to be productive in the capitalistic machine, but so many people do. I refuse to tell my children that they have no value if they cannot work in a traditional sense. My (non-toxic) family and friends value me for who I am not what I can bring to the economy. Unfortunately the mindset that you are only allowed to be alive if you are highly productive results in a lot of ableism, bias, and even more barriers to help in our society.
Oh man, I feel this. As soon as I became disabled, it was like really taboo for a large portion of my family. Then when covid happened, all the family gatherings became really unsafe for me due to antivax + antimask behaviors/beliefs, so I couldn't really go anymore. I went once in the last 3 years, it was a really overwhelming sensory environment, extra people that I don't know were there (and was not told about), I was the only one wearing a mask, and I barely got to talk to anyone.
The only person I did get to talk to was my teenage nibling (that part was awesome), and at the end they basically implied that the only reason I hadn't show up to other family gatherings was because I chose not to (while technically true, really seems like there wasn't any understanding of how my disabilities affect me or what my day to day limitations are - but like how could they know? No one will talk to me about it.).
I didn't get sick from a pathogen, but I still needed over a month to recover because it was such a stressful environment and it made my chronic conditions flare up really badly.
I'm far from the only neurodivergent person in my family and some of my niblings show indications of both neurodivergence and early signs of my underlying genetic condition, but my mom still sets up this extremely overwhelming sensory environment for every family gathering she hosts (even though she's also told me she gets overwhelmed too), so the internalized ableism is really strong and present in my family of origin.
Thank you so much. It takes a lot of courage to share with this kind of honestly your experiences and struggle.
We’ve always made feel ashamed or “acting the victim” if we speak about our illness.
I started struggling with my health at 14 at it takes 5 years to have a diagnosis due to medical incompetence, gaslighting etc.. I spent the last years trying to recognize my struggle and don’t feel a useless and lazy person who’s faking it. Fucking imposter syndrom for being ill is a shitshow. I’m always afraid of speaking about it or saying out loud how I’m really feeling, so thank you, you’ve give me something to relate, and a safe space.
Omg. I am so sorry. 1st I'd like to say as a mother who lost her daughter to s@icide, that no you are not a burden. You have intrinsic value in your loved ones' lives and to lose you in such a way would lay a burden on them for the rest of their days(I don't mean that to shame you or anyone for s@icudal ideation. Just trying to accentuate the point that nothing you need from your loved ones will compare to the inability to do those things for you anymore) 2nd one of my sisters was born with spina bifida and was in a wheelchair from 3 years old on. She depended on us to help her with accessibility issues, medical necessities, etc. But we depended on her too. I lost her in Nov 2020 and there isn't a day that goes by that I wish I could do one more thing to help her, play one more card game with her while gossiping about whatever with her.
Not trying to tell you how to handle those family members, but I do hope you have strict boundaries with them. I feel a bit sorry for them, tbh, because they don't seem to understand the indescribable value of human connection. All the best to you and yours. Thank you for sharing 💜
This is the story of my life, minus the kids & husband… let me guess, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Another thing, you aren’t a burden on your husband or children. I have struggled with the same issues and feeling myself.
@@annaalessandrini9965 Yeah the imposter syndrome is real... Especially when you have a condition that showed symptoms as a kid and those were all dismissed (accused of faking, etc) due to your age at the time.
Then the SSDI process does it all over again when they hire "experts" that can't be bothered to even read your medical file properly.
It's so hard. Deconstructing the internalized ableism helps, but it's still really hard to be surrounded by the capitalist oppression that's still driving everyone else.
I'm a licensed psychotherapist. I haven't even watched the video yet, and I already want to say, "insurance is a tool by which capitalism owns and limits mental healthcare."
And I reluctantly go along with it.
👏
Thankyou.
Every day that goes by where they get away with not paying for something incl meds, is a win in their eyes.
People from 1930s 40s Germany recognize what is happening here as fascism.
My last few therapists were so focused on the insurance end of it, they hardly listened and weren't interested in actually working with me. It was all about meeting quotas and fixing me within a given time frame (10 weeks. Yikes.) They didn't care about my trauma, they just wanted to fix me in a bubble so I could be done. It was train wreck after train wreck so after a few failed referrals, I quit going. I do better with videos and books. I've made a lot of progress on my own.
I'm incredibly lucky that I have a therapist who is anticapitalist and has been focusing our sessions on what makes me happier, not what makes me more productive to the owning class. She's also been working on deconstructing the idea that I'm less worthy because I'm studying a vocational degree rather than a university one, and other such things. I can't express how much of a difference it has made to have someone like that in my corner
W for anti-capatilism
The degree is worthless trust me.
@@kalloyd05 It depends on the career you are working on. Some require at least an associates, bachelors or even a masters degree (nursing, psychotherapy, accounting, teaching, IT, etc). Others require some experience or vocational training (mechanic, hair stylist, electrician, chef). Others don't typically require anything (artist, receptionist, small business owner, bank teller). Each are important.
But I do recognize that so many young students have been fed this dream of being successful if you go to college and that it's an affordable goal with financial aid and loans. So many people have been roped up in tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt just so they could meet their career goals (I was one of them), only to find that the degree didn't help them achieve their goals and now time and money was spent when it wasn't necessary or would be unhelpful. I feel for our generation because we were spoon fed this idea that the only way to be financially secure and happy is to go to college.
I always encourage high schoolers to take a break after graduating to give them time to know what career they want and how to achieve it. I also recommend those wanting to go to college to complete two years of community college to get the required courses (eng, math, etc) out of the way for much less money, and then transferring to another school if they need a specific program. I'm hoping to encourage younger generations to feel empowered in their career choice, no matter if education is required or not, and to find ways to get there without going into a bunch of debt.
Thank you for this video. It hit me really hard. I'm neurodivergent and disabled, and have been my whole life, though I'm only now, in my late 30s, getting diagnosed. I was also raised by very high-energy, pro-capitalism parents, in a very conservative town. I'm lucky to have a good therapist, a supportive partner, and enough resources to be comfortable, but this idea of my value not being tied to my productivity is still something I've been working on for years. Your video made me feel seen and accepted and like I'm on the right track. Thank you so much!
I feel you, it is something that I also have been working on and feel fortunate that I am on disability. One that hits me hard is when the government does the narrative of being a drain on society (I live in Australia and last year we had a change of government so I get a break from this one for a while) and talks about re-evaluating everyone who qualified for any services. On one side there is messaging that everyone has value and on the other you get that.
I'm also neurodivergent and disabled. The woman who gave birth to me is... Not a kind person. I'm trying to get over the belief that I am a waste of resources if I am not useful to someone. I deserve to have a humane standard of living, even if I'm "lazy"(see: suffering from extreme burnout and depression). I am not expected to be able to do things without being taught first. I'm not expected to complete tasks inhumanly fast. Most people expect minor flaws and mistakes as par for the course and don't feel the need to yell at length about every minor mistake. A lot of people actually appreciate the work I do.
That woman carved many of the cruelest underlying philosophies of capitalism deep into my opinion of myself. I'm barely functional enough to work at my job and keep my body operational. I'm working on giving myself the kindness and grace I would give a stranger.
I know intellectually that I deserve to exist, but it's really hard to internalize that, especially when I think about asking for accommodations.
I'd like to recommend the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, the wisdom in that book is what the world really needs right now to help us heal from the conditioning.
what disability do you have ?
So I quit my job yesterday because it was really starting to harm my mental health. They kept expecting more and more productivity and I felt I was at the point where you kinda trip and then fly off the treadmill so instead I jumped off. I don't have a solid plan for what's next but I'll figure it out.
Good luck to you!
I did the same and now looking for a laid back part time hybrid work, where I can have life with kids and with myself. Thanks for sharing.
❤❤❤
I'm in the same boat as of 3 weeks ago. I'm proud of you. Thank you for being alive. Thank you for advocating for yourself. Thank you for knowing you deserve more out of life. Thank you for being kind to yourself. Thank you for being so strong.b
Great analogy!
Good luck to you.
Thank you!!! As a chronic pain person, I am deeply lost in this system. Migraines on there own don’t qualify me for disability, even though mine are completely connected to CPTSD. I would have to have money to get help proving this, or even to be able to get enough therapy to get a proper diagnosis. There is not enough discussion about how capitalism is crushing someone like me, and the trauma of having to work with severe pain while pretending I am fine so that someone will hire me is beyond horrible.
Capitalism is the main factor in me not being able to stabilize my life in a safe way that is financially stable.
I will never make peace with this. More women have migraines and I can’t help thinking that if more men had them instead the road to disability approval would look very different.
My younger sister didn't have enough work hours for disability, but does get SSI: In her telephone appeal hearing, the judge reminded the "vocational expert" witness that chronic absenteeism due to illness (chronic migraines) is considered a disability. So after two years of fighting for it without a lawyer, she got SSI.
We're in the Upper Midwest, and I'm going through my lengthy second attempt for disability benefits for my various conditions, including chronic pain and hypermobility, this time with a lawyer - who's not doing much, but will be useful when I'm inevitably rejected and need to appeal. I still expect it to take 1-2 years.
@@gamewrit0058 Thank you so much for sharing this information. 🙏
I also get migraine and have cptsd. I feel / hear you! ❤
i have chronic migraines along with epilepsy. can’t get on disability bc my seizures aren’t the “right kind” 😒. no therapist gets my struggles. i’m super depressed and just got a new one, and i’m trying to wait it out and see how things go with her. but she suggested i uber to jobs and work at like chilis as much as i can to get as much money as i can and i was like???? no???? i can’t do that????? and she went “i have migraines but i have medicine why don’t you?” and i was like “i’ve tried every medication that will go with my epilepsy meds. nothing has worked. i just got on botox and that hasn’t even gotten to full effect yet”. like i come to therapy for help, and for an hour i feel like i’m defending myself on why i live the way i live and it just makes me feel worse
I am in the exact same boat- I cannot work without melting down, I will either lose my shit in front of customers or start drinking again, and that's no way to cope, I tried for 10 years, I just ended up with liver/renal failure...
I believe ASD is the heart of my issues, and I believe I am an excellent candidate for disability, but i can't afford the doctors to diagnose and advocate for me, so it's an endless Catch-22 for people like us.
I am so sorry for your situation, I hope you are able to find a respite somehow...
I don't think the "medical model" or the transactional relationship is the best way for medical doctors to operate either. There's so many medical conditions that require deeper and more holistic understanding, and longterm attention and care. Not to mention how those conditions can also impact our self esteem and mental health. It truly feels awful to be told by a medical professional that they don't believe you about your pain level, and that they think you're just drug seeking. There's research that shows that interaction can actually make your physical pain worse. And make you stop or want to stop searching for help. I'm so grateful that I found a nurse practitioner that feels like a guide and a friend more than a authority figure that I'm called in to blindly obey. My physical and mental health are so much better for having that relationship ongoing in my life
Fucking YES! You’re so right. Human are so complex and a lot of illness are really multifactorial or deeply related with trauma (in both ways, as a trigger of the illness or as a consequence)
in Brasil where i live doctors call people patients, but the framing is that you treat the patient not the disease, a patient here mean a person, not a case, but here we have public health
lotta ppl with mental illness and disability identify with socialism for the exact reason that capitalism decides whether we're fixable or not based on whether we can produce extra for capitalists or whether we'll burden their profits. best case scenario, we can be medicated or accomodated for wealth extraction, worst case scenario we can be denied everything and probably end up in a prison and be profitable that way. socialism says that we can be productive for ourselves and our communities regardless of how much "work" we can do. we are people and that is inherently a positive addition to society. love this ❤️
One frustration I had working as a therapist was that I didn't feel like I could really solve peoples' problems... Like the only thing that could really help them was systemic change or various other factors that were beyond my control/the scope of my role. I felt helpless...
I mean how is talking to a person supposed to help a person when their problem is the world? They can't adapt and survive because the world is so messed up.. it oppresses us..
@@thothheartmaat2833 Exactly. I think a good example of this was when I was treating clients at the beginning of the pandemic. The stress of being able to make enough money to survive was unreal. One of my clients had *just* made it out of a homeless shelter with her three very young kids by getting a job with Amazon. But she shared that the company did not seem concerned about their employees' health or wellbeing. Sure, they required masks and using hand sanitizer, etc. But these were not enforced and many just didn't wear their masks on their faces. And when someone caught covid, they wouldn't disinfect the warehouse (I'm talking very early pandemic when many public and private buildings were being sprayed to disinfect).
This client was so worried about making her kids or vulnerable family members sick that she would spray herself with a can of Lysol after every shift. And all I could do was be present with her and assure her that she is reacting normally to an abnormal situation. What else could I do? The US government gave maybe 4 stimulus checks to the citizens , which wasn''t nearly enough to cover any missed work and keep her and her children in their home. And the whole world was struggling to cope. It was also a very difficult time to be a therapist, especially when I was also experiencing the distress of choosing between being able to work and feed my family or become exposed to a virus with no vaccine or helpful treatments.
I stopped seeing my therapist a few months ago for this exact same reason, because I live at my parents house and my therapist doesn't control my parents.
@@JamesVestal-dz5qm Oh, I feel you
@@midsummernight9431 it's hard to communicate to my parents what kind of support I need.
Capitalism gives us zero/sum, transactional relationships, and weighs us according to our benefit to shareholders. From our first day of school, we’re being prepared to take part in that system, and to place the workings of that system ahead of any human values we have.
I wish more therapists were not only more trauma informed, but also more insightful about the violence of this system toward individuals. I have sorted out my own issues, even though the pain and grief are still with me too often. It would be a hell of a lot easier, if I didn’t live in a society in which the highest value is profit, with outright contempt for the lives of those who produce it.
With my therapist whenever I would talk about the problems of the world she would say "well what do you want me to do about it?" in a very defensive way. This made me realize that she was just trying to fix me and not really listening to what I was saying and that she didn't like that I talked about problems outside of myself. But how can I talk about my own issues without her acknowledging that systemic injustices are what have brought about the vast majority of my suffering? It feels very much like I'm being gaslighted. "You can just change your situation with a new perspective" is gaslighting. You can't escape poverty or injustice with a positive attitude. Unless that positive attitude also comes with organizing with your fellow activists and destroying the system.
I also don't like that some therapists (in my experience) will threaten to Baker Act you if you talk about suicidal ideation--- that screams "if you even think about trying to escape this horrific racist capitalist hellscape, we'll just make it worse for you." If you see life as a beautiful thing then that's great, but if someone sees it as a prison, if we see ourselves as being born to be cogs in the capitalist machine, then the only reason to so vehemently insist that people stay alive at all costs is because the system will lose a worker and we can't have workers escaping. But what I really want is the choice to not to have to sell my labor for things such as shelter, food, etc... which are human rights. How do I opt out of capitalism? And I want that for all people--- to not have to slaves for the sake of the wealthy. I want all people to be able to just live not for the sake of others. My reason for wanting to survive is just to bring down capitalism so that we don't all have to suffer anymore. But I don't want to have to do it. I want to live in the kinder, more beautiful world already. I'm envious of the people for whom we are trying to create a better world.
And I do think therapy can be very helpful, but only if therapists (like you are doing) acknowledge that there have to be systemic changes and not gaslight clients by being like "have you tried coloring" or "maybe going for a walk will have you feel better." If a therapist isn't saying the whole system should be destroyed, then I don't trust them. And most therapists seem to be wealthy white people, so they're not going to tell you to destroy a system that benefits them.
You hit the nail on the head. We need to stop giving business to therapists who don't understand this
I had a very similar experience with my first therapist, which was relatively recent and who I worked with for over 2 years. I wish I hadn't wasted so much time with a therapist who was gaslighting me on multiple fronts and who was also racist/microaggressive. She would get so defensive when I would bring up whiteness or systemic oppression bc she actively benefitted from those systems, and challenging those systems made her uncomfortable and "threatened." When I called her on gaslighting me and keeping me in an abusive relationship I was actively trying to leave bc he was "so good to me," she completely dodged accountability and played the victim.
Fuck you Cheryl. Any progress I made was in spite of you and I hope you lose your fucking license.
I totally agree with what you said, you are spot on. 👍
Yes, i’ve been thinking about this topic a lot lately.
Everyone has to work for food, clothes, shelter whether that be having a job and paying for it or being in the wilderness hunting, making your own text tiles, harvesting natural resources to built your shelter. I wish people would be honest and say they want the stuff other people work for. People of a certain generation want upper middle class lives without any effort. It really comes down to entitlement. You are not entitled to the fruit of other peoples work. If I have a garden I do not have to give you half because you are too lazy to either grow your own or help me with mine. Who do you think you are?
Capitalism is predatory as hell. No one talks about how Capitalism makes the commodification of things like sex and appearance necessary as part of its full implementation.
@@AnHeC Are these our only other two options though?
@@AnHeC i mean, other options haven't been able to be explored yet without the previous ruling system trying its damndest to eradicate it. besides, capitalism implodes on itself every few years because it's only a design that works on paper, which is why shit keeps collapsing around us while it cant even fulfill the basic necessities for a functioning, happy society.
like, you seriously think capitalism is the best we can do when quite literally everything can be bought with money at this point? whats the difference between laws being geared towards the benefits of feudal lords and laws being geared towards wealthy capitalists because they can afford to lobby for bills, and destabilize an entire economy in a day?
@@AnHeC not true. Plenty of sovieties have lived with pretty high levels of happiness in comparison to the US. Nice fallacies though.
@@AnHeC You have been successfully influenced by the ruling class's propaganda. The idea that all modes of self organization and governance are inherently cruel and exploitative is a lie that is peddled to engineer complacency with the status quo. They do the same thing when they try to tell us that greed and hunger for power are inherent to the human condition, that humans are innately monstrous, in order to write off all ideas regarding a more fair society as "idealistic naivety".
Tf is wrong with you @AnHeC?
Anti-capitalists like me want to progress towards a better future, not regress like capitalists.
Really grateful to hear your thoughts about this! My biggest hangup with therapy and mental health care in general is how much it has typically been geared towards being a functioning and productive member of society. I don't want to be a functioning and productive member of society. I want to not be tired all the time. It's helpful to know this shift is happening in the field.
Maybe you just need to be a member of a functional society that doesen destroy the planet and itself? Then you would probably feel good and be productive/not too sick and tired.
Sadly, many of us who do not have financial security end up either stuffing down feelings or using other bad coping skills. This culture breeds unhealthy living!
You just nailed the demand side of the drug war.
Can't solve your problems? Make them go away while you are high!
Sigh
It really does. What can we do if we can’t even afford to see a therapist in the first place?
I am thankful that I am mostly an alcoholic. My therapy is AA and the 12 steps. I am glad that I don't deal with clinical depression.
I’m so glad to have stumbled upon this video! I have a BA in psychology and this capitalist model is basically why I didn’t want to continue my education in psychotherapy. I feel like people are being pushed into “functioning better by working nonstop”, especially in my local area (I live in Beijing and the pressure is huge). Thank you for talking about this!
thank you so much for sharing this comment because I did the same thing. I have a BA in psych that I’m just sitting on too for the exact same reason.
This is such an important conversation that I had never even considered. My current therapist works with survivors of domestic abuse and childhood trauma, many of them being women/femme presenting. Addressing trauma with a socialist/anti-capitalist clinician who is also an experienced advocate for women has changed my healing journey so much. She has helped me to unpack and reframe my experiences in ways no other therapist has.
Things are so much better than in the 90s, not that improvement isn’t still needed, but back then I went to college for a career that I ended up wanting to literally end my existence to get out of and avoid shame. Long story short, I got out and started getting help. The therapist I had in 93 though implied that my mental recovery could not continue to progress without going back to that career, she was convinced I had given up something I “loved” and would realize that if I returned. I thought of DEATH when she said that, and that I didn’t want to die. I pretended I was working toward getting back to it until I could get out of therapy, I didn’t trust it for a long time after that, around 17 years.
She basically told you to “lean in” 🤦🏻♀️ omg. “Lean in” is like the neoliberal rallying cry at this point lol
I'm a masters student in chemical engineering, and I got diagnosed with autism and OCD only as a masters student in chemical engineering. I didn't have those mental health conditions as a bachelors student. So therapists are trying to fit people's diagnosis based on their level of education and the field they're expected to work in.
This way of thinking that you should go back to what you previously did is still strong with many therapists.
Mickey, this is one of those times when I hear something and my brain just goes DING. Something I’ve been chewing on for so long that hearing it out loud just rings incredibly true. Permission to share with my own councillor and discuss in session?
Same feeling
WOW okay this is a great video and a great topic, and I wouldn't mind more of this!! I have to say a lot of my anxiety revolves around the pressures that exist due to our capitalistic world. since I turned 20 all I've been focusing on is "ok, you have to get your mental health to a better place before you turn 26 because then you're not on your parents insurance anymore, so you HAVE to be ready for a full time job with benefits by then or else you can't get meds/therapy/etc which you need to survive" and I've been PUSHING myself to get there, and I'm on track to start full time at my current job in May (when I turn 26) but I'm still very scared and I HATE that this is the reality for me and many other people. As if we can just make our mental illness disappear so we can work like a good robot and make enough money to maybe feed and house ourselves. It really, really fucking sucks.
So anyway, thank you for making this video!! It's really cool to see clinicians talking about this sort of thing.
30 yo here. It's not as bad as you think, try not to stress about it too much. Once you stop being attached to the idea of a deadline for self-actualizing, it becomes a lot easier to just like live your life. I couldn't manage letting go like that until this year when I realized life continues after my 20s 😂
@@kit922 I disagree. I'm 32, autistic/adhd, chronically ill, asthmatic and nonbinary pursuing hormone therapy. My life is constant stress about whether I'll have insurance and be able to get medications that I need to be able to literally breathe, for mental health, and other reasons. My employment and health is all very precarious because my disabilities prevent me from working full time, but I'm not not disabled enough for benefits on that basis.
You're right that life and self actualization doesn't end in your 30s, but whether you can access regular healthcare and medication does. It's terrifying and honestly a very hopeless feeling.
Best wishes with transitioning to your full time job! As someone who can't work full time at the moment myself, I know the stress. I hope it works out for you, and that we'll somehow manage to transition to a less barbaric health insurance system at some point.
Ideally we'll someday move past only valuing people based on monetary factors altogether.
Wow... I resonate with this so much. I can't believe I have to stress so much about whether or not I'm going to be able to afford medication I literally need to be alive and continue living. I don't know if this is whiny or not, but it feels unfair that I have to work so hard just to have the possibility of being able to continue living, while every other person in my life lives easy because they don't need to pay for their bodies to work properly. And some of them look down on me, as if it's my fault I need these medications and yet still can't hope to function on a normal level because of all my health conditions, or it's my fault that my medications are so expensive and thus I have trouble with affording everything else. I gotta stop thinking about this, it really makes me wonder what's the point of it all.
@@duetopersonalreasonsaaaaaaunder capitalism, the only point of anything is to make as much money as possible for those who control capital and then die when we are no longer able. it happens to us all eventually, people are only temporally abled
sounds like you and erin would benefit from a unionized work place. the industrialized workers of the world (IWW) will waive dues on request, and they provide all kinds of support to ppl interested in unionizing. even if you don't have the spoons to organize your workplace, it's an org where keyboard activism is appreciated, and being plugged in with others w disabilities also forced to work might help manage negative feelings. just a thought, best of luck
There's a version of "productivity" which centers on building community, rather than stuff. this can be helpful for some. To me, it's also important to address the "charity" off shoot of the medical model. The one that makes Disabled/nonconforming('defective") bodies a currency "'owed" to clinicians or those publishing articles to further study. It's BS & eugenics. I have very rarely left a clinicians office, medical, therapist or other where I didn't feel like I should be compensated for effectively providing CEUs.They almost never know what functional supports look like in practice & too many don't care. Frequently, even today for example wheelchair users are told/sold euthanasia as a "solution". Even when chronic pain is not an issue. Mobility & "independence" get conflated with autonomy. NO just NO
Yeah I think it's really important to make a distinction between being productive for one's community and being productive for the capitalist economy. They get bundled up under the same word but they're really worlds apart, both as experiences and in their impact.
Being productive for oneself or one's community is amazingly rewarding and it can also be a really healing experience, working together for a common goal.
But being productive for the capitalist economy never makes you feel that way. When you're working for a company that's paying you a fraction of what your work is worth to them you never get to truly enjoy the fruit of your labor. That, and because you spend most of your waking life working, you won't have the energy or time to actually put into the things that you want to do.
So, yeah, capitalism is not great for mental health - not just for the racism and sexism and shit, but also because it robs people of the experience of being *actually* productive members of their society.
Yes, lots of people deserve compensation for their lived experience and for their role in educating professionals.
Charity in our capitalist society is testing lipstick on a pig.
Charity has been so twisted.
Need help? Can't pay?
Great! Your body is going to be lab for students today!
Complex condition made worse by lack of treatment due to lack of money? Great, you can be little Jimmy's first patient!
@@catsmom129 Tell me about it.
You can completely work on your own terms, easily be very productive AND not burn out. If you work to help others/contribute to society out of your own will and NOT out of ńecessity to survive/in survival mode. With a basic income, anyone could do this. You woulden t even have to convince others to hire you regardless of your dysfunctional body and pay for your work to be able to work and contribute.
A fair portion of the diagnostic model references how limiting the disability/illness is to productivity. I would put a lot of effort into work, but because my mental illness didn't show up *as much* in that space, I felt I wasn't "bad enough" to need help. I was finally able to get help but struggled for a long time thinking it was in the realm of "normal".
Thank you for giving an explanation to that frustration. ❤️
This is an interesting discussion and a perspective I truly struggle to understand. I escaped my abusers by finding work outside the home. My job was my first truly safe space. I become paralyzed with fear at the thought of not being able to work. I don't tie my worth to it, but work and bring productive and feeling like I'm part of something good has been very healing for me personally.
Perhaps you feel that it's hard to understand because you're involved in a field that you see as something good. If that is the case, that's awesome and I'm very happy for you. However, most people are involved in their field solely because it keeps them housed and fed or nearly does and that's it. A lot of us are stuck in fields we do not morally or ethically agree with, but can't find work outside of. I am a vegan that cares immensely about animal rights and climate change, but I had to work for McDonald's for 4 years and now work in the coal industry. I feel that far more Americans are in a situation more similar to mine than to yours, where you find fulfillment and purpose in your work and I know the work I do directly contributes to the destruction of the planet. Majorly sucks, I truly wish that everyone could be doing work they find purposeful and fulfilling, but very few of us can.
I can't work because of disability (mental and physical) i come from a working family i felt guilty for a long time because i couldn't work anymore
It’s a complex issue for sure! I think everyone’s personal circumstances will show up differently in this area and it’s important to honor that!
Being productive CAN be valuable and good! For you it's freedom
But when productivity becomes the highest good, it's a prison for people who can't provide value to capitalists
@@truecrimelover2022 I have a disability as well, and while it doesn't prevent me from working, I've been hospitalized a few times and that is just so financially draining. My best friend is on disability. She's a wonderful woman and so much more than what she can or can't do physically. So are you❤️
This was good to hear. I've been fighting to get on Social Security Disability for years now, and the capitalist machinery is really starting to bear down on me. I have several conditions (leukemia, glaucoma, side effects of the 13 medications I take daily) that limit me, but the big one is a herniated disc in my spine that prevents me from even leaving the house. And what really gets me is that I was a PASSENGER in the car that was in a really bad wreck that caused the spinal injury. I'm a total victim of my poor health and injured spine; I didn't do anything to get my body in this condition. I've had two lawyers represent me, yet SS has said basically that I'm fine, I should stop complaining about a little backache and a tummy ache (severe gastric distress from the chemo I need to take EVERY DAY FOR LIFE!!!), and get my broken ass back to work. If I was healthy, don't you think I would? Do you think I LIKE sitting in my house, in constant pain even though I take 4 pain medications, basically waiting to die!? If my shitty job just gave me a damn stool to use like the doctor told them while waiting to have my spinal fusion scheduled I wouldn't be here. If they let me get my surgery and THEN fired me I wouldn't care! Fire me the second I woke up from anaesthesia even! They gambled that the clock would run out on the temporary disability they forced me on, the third claim I had to make because of all my other problems. And they won. The little "problem" employee who needed a shit ton of time off constantly could finally be let go in a way that they couldn't be sued. Long story short, by the time I was finally able to get another surgeon it was too late and the damage is now permanent. Fuck the United States and it's selling out of every single resident to moneyed interests. If I could I'd try the novel argument that I need "medical asylum" in Canada or the EU where I might have some sort of social safety net. I know that such a thing doesn't exist, but if it did my ass would endure the horrifying pain of the plane trip across the Atlantic.
an injury to one is an injury to all. in my opinion, your suffering amounts to a crime against humanity bc allowing it has cheapened the soul of mankind as a whole. this is not pity, but rage. the US could burn and god would be just. best of luck to you
I feel your rage man as a fellow injured
Hey, so, I'm 24. Able bodied, but recently sustained my first injury with lasting ramifications (partially tore my PCL knee ligament) around 5 months ago.
The sheer.. _crushing stress,_ I endured having to so much as *interact* with our medical system at all, is shameful, to say the least.
I presented to the ER, had five doctors visits, an MRI, and a brace. Which required a couple weeks wait during critical healing time-
I put myself in the hole for upwards of three months to pay my medical bills as soon as possible. I had to go to my mom for food. But I finally got it sorted out. The stress lifted.
It's been months of radio silence, injury's healing well, hope has returned-! ... and I get a call saying I'm due with the brace fitters for a *months worth of wages.* Apparently there's 'been a mistake', and I 'should call billing before it gets sent to collections'.
So- people can just do that. We exist within a system that can demand a *whole f•cking months worth* of your time, by mistake.
'Ha ha-! Oopsie~ Oopsie poopsie. Just a wittle mistake. Life changing money that we think is entitled to us. It might be, it might not. Figure it out yourself~'
... So, that said.. I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE the sh•t you had to go through. Good lord.
And yet you're still trucking.
I get it, it's a random comment on a random video with fifteen likes or whatever but, god damn it, we're people. We can relate in other ways, but at a baseline, we're people..
But not to the ones who set this whole racket up.. And they're due for a reminder. Not saying it's going to involve fire.. or, pink.. bars of soap for that matter..
But you sure as sh•t reminded me. Keep fighting the good fight, and, I'll carry that with me as best I can
Stay strong Chris
*P.S.*
And _f•ck these f•ck•ng m•th•rf•ck•rs_
Isn't the lead problem that SS is denying you?
SS acknowledging you are in fact disabled, require and are deserving of benefits, would be basically a giant leap towards better?
SS is a socialist government controlled system.
And it seems like because you hate capitalism so much, you are willing to condemn it as evil, and turn even more power over to the government that is denying you the resources to get capitalist medical care, not realizing that socialist medical care would go right along with socialist SS, and deny medical care, because you are just fine in the government's view.
@@ThatTallBrendan well said...👏👏👏
FUCK 'em all, we need to take our lives back...
THAT would be freedom.
Not the right to bear a weapon that will take innocent lives, that's... insane.
Anyway.
Fight the good fight, we have to keep trying...👍☠️😬
Please make a series out of this, it's so needed and validating 💜
Yessss
As a Progressive Bi-Woman in a non-progressive town trying to find good therapy, this video was very validating. I'm literally surrounded by all of these oppressive systems and beliefs and often think things like, "How could I not be depressed when this is what I'm dealing with?" As also someone wanting to go into the counseling field this video is important in that front too. I would love more in-depth discussion on these topics, and don't worry if it's too long. Long videos are great too XD
❤Bisexual identified folks are the largest segment of the lgbtq community .Also bisexuals are @ the greatest risk for mh issues, domestic abuse and suicide.
100% agree on the relationship discussion. I talked to my OB for 15 minutes and she "diagnosed" me with depression and then started going over medication options. It's like, did you have corn in your ears? I told you my mom passed away and was going through a rough patch, I'm not clinically depressed. Doctors want to give you a pill, take your money and send you on your way.
Because they only became doctors to make money.
Because capitalism...
Awesome, isn't it?
This is such a great video. As a therapist myself, I find that when I think of my work, I don't particularly care if my Client has a job or not or if they're "productive". I just want to help them help themselves achieve a life that THEY find meaningful and enjoy living. However, all that being said since I practice out of the USA, much of that WILL be steeped in capitalism as financial barriers can be a huge barrier to such a life. I don't do my job to help clients go back to work, I do it so they FEEL better and be more content with themselves and their environments.
What happens if I CAN'T feel better about myself or my environment as long as I am forced to hold a job?
I would rather end my life than work full time, it's absolutely terrifying to me, and utterly disheartening.
What do people like me do?
My part time barn work isn't going to pay the bills, and I can barely handle it, and I find it extremely rewarding.
I still can't do it more than a few hours a week without spinning out in my head.
I end up drinking to cope, and that's a very destructive path for me.
So please tell me what I should do, because I really don't know, and it's really scary.
Without my very understanding partner, I WOULD be homeless or in an institution.
What are people like me supposed to do?
Anyway, sorry.
It's just scary and overwhelming and frustrating.
Even more so because I know that objectively we shouldn't HAVE to live this way...
It took me 8 months to find my therapist who I love but I know I won’t be able to see her long bc she doesn’t take my insurance. Thank you for sharing resources and giving us hope 💕
My one tip on finding a therapist is to find someone who seems like a fit and even if they don't have availability, email and ask if they have anyone in their professional network they can recommend who matches your criteria. Found my current therapist by following a chain of a few therapists like this, and now they're referring me to someone else with more experience in a specific area. Good luck and hang in there to anyone needing support right now. You shouldn't have to be this strong, but I know you are.
I never heard a therapist make the connection between mental health and the socioeconomic health of the place we live in. Thank you so much for acknowledging this much-needed issue 🙏🏻
I have been saying this for years amongst close friends! Like not to knock therapy but as someone who researched mental health seeking behaviors you really recognize that pushing therapy in most cases is a bandaid to a wider societal ill. Therapy is a treatment option as pharmaceuticals are in biophysical medicine. It’s not preventive.
I have always felt therapy didn’t work for me. This video basically sums up my thoughts perfectly
Yeah I’ve resigned to the fact CBT and talk therapy are like giving Tylenol for a broken leg. It doesn’t fix anything and sometimes doesn’t even help mask symptoms!
How does one reconcile legitimate systemic criticisms of the medical field with the fact that people like anti-vaxxers also exist and use some similar arguments?
Wow. I literally have tears burning my eyes... this has been so spot on, validating and cathartic... traumatic, religious, childhood with undiagnosed adhd/asd, ptsd, scoliosis, carpal tunnel, vein, nerve and arthritis issues since teen years.... more trauma and abu$e through teen and adult years... but Dr's and family would never hear me. I was being a hypochondriac, over exaggerating, attention or drug seeking etc etc... instead of just listening to me, trying to understand.
I'm still trying to sort everything out.. and find a therapist that doesn't just cause more trauma, shame or just brings up all my crap but doesn't help me with any actionable steps to take (other than meditation and "self care" which I already do as much as I can but single mom to 2 boys with disabilities.... I get no monetary support other that 200$ per month in child support, but no contact and nothing but medical card and food stamps from the state. I worked for 25 years, making all if conditions worse and now I'm in a race to save and fix what I can... I already have a lot of nerve damage and now reynauds phenomenon....
What you have talked about really makes me think this might be why I feel I've never gelled with a therapist .... the ones I saw seemed to take that view of you aren't thriving unless you are a productive member of society (which means a cog in the capitalism wheel, if you aren't independently wealthy or from a wealthy family). Most of My family, Dr's and therapists have made me feel broken, like everything was my fault...I was just doing (it, life, religion, socializing etc) wrong. That leads to a whole host of issues nobody is willing to see and it's absolutely maddening.
OK so I just totally vented. But I'm gonna post it and hope that it helps someone else feel a little solidarity.
solidarity forever. someday capitalism will end, but until then, i hope you find some relief. thanks for posting, so many comments on this video have really made me feel a touch more sane
big solidarity on this one, thank you for sharing
I hope you find a tenable situation, and some well deserved peace of mind...
I struggle with severe mental health issues and chronic pain. I actually like working because it keeps me busy, but if I didn't have to work for a company that takes advantage of me and mistreats employees, my mental health would be much, much better.
I've been struggling to hold a job since I have been old enough to get one and trying to work on myself to "fix" it for just about as long. The most upsetting part is that it seems to be impossible to tell whether there's really something wrong with me that should be medicated or if I would be fine if I could do work where my contributions were valued and that paid me enough to live.
as a therapist in training this is the sort of thing that keeps me up at night :') i worry so much about how to help people with the very real issues of capitalism and not wanting to enforce capitalistic norms but also helping people deal with the reality that capitalism is for now an inescapable reality. thank you for taking on this topic ♥️
This topic is so important to me! Thank you for bringing it up. A big struggle I've been having this year has been the nuance between acknowledging that the biggest source of mental illness struggles is environmental (on the one hand), and the importance of figuring out healthy coping strategies or ways to regulate/navigate one's reactions to that shit (on the other hand).
Social media discourse famously hates nuance, and the "the problem is the system, quit talking about individual resilience" rhetoric as I saw it presented in memes and sound bites interacted with my autistic brain (taking things too literally) in a really dangerous way. Since I started putting resilience work back in my life, my emotional balance has been slowly returning. Anyway, all this to say: that's a way in which the neoliberal misuse of mental health language (and the general vibe of neoliberal bullshit) has impacted my life.
"Social media discourse famously hates nuance". You hit the nail on the head. A lot of people fail to recognize this issue.
I'm a therapist in Michigan and just so happy to find you. This is exactly where my work has been growing towards. I loved how you say "Reclaiming my time". I very much want to connect with other professionals that share our beliefs.
I just graduated with a master's in psychology. I have no desire to be clinical for this very reason. Getting my certification/hours is a no go because all of the places I could get that from are more concerned with the amount of money they can make off of their therapists and no concern for the amount of strain they put on their therapists and even less concern for the kind of therapy that is happening.
I also hate that the mental health help isn't available to so many low income people. Many times the justice system is the only kind of therapy those who are profoundly mentally ill ever get. I don't know what to do about that.
All of those white men were also rich!! They were lookin out for their factory owner buddies.
My therapy session I had yesterday pretty much encompassed this topic. I also find a lot of people use the world resilient as a back handed compliment. Especially towards black women. As though we’ve failed and are weak for not being able to be a productive working under the capitalist system that often excludes, if not outright harms us. I was so glad my therapist agreed with me, especially since I live in a mostly white state and I don’t have easy access to mental health professionals…or any professionals of color where I live. Which is unfortunate, but glad I found a therapist that fits on my first try in a new town! Loooool
I think another component that is helpful to consider when practicing as a therapist or when trying to find your own is therapeutic modality. I love post modern systemic approaches like Narrative therapy because an examination of larger cultural norms and systems is built into the approach.
In my program we are also talking a lot about sociocultural attunement and learning to pay attention to how larger unjust hierarchies recapitulate themselves in relationships and how to amplify the voices of clients who are not being heard.
Love love love that! In Italy it isn’t really talk about yet, hope we can move forward. I think also be a little more open to integrate different approach can be really amazing, I see the system being a little bit strict and closed minds toward other school of tought. What do you think about the new emerging reasearch that suggest that the different methods don’t differ so much in the outcome? Do you think that the focus will shift more on the therapist-patient relationships and less on the methodology? I’m not a therapist, but I find it interesting. I totally understand that being evidence-based is a MUST, so some reference and guideline are totally needed.
@@annaalessandrini9965 The way I have been taught is that while it is true that the common factors (like rapport between the client and the therapist, etc.) are some of the best predictors of positive outcome in therapy a therapist's epistemology is still an important part of how they see the world.
It's a guiding philosophy of sorts and as a client looking into what different therapy modalities say about how change works and finding what speaks to you could be helpful in your quest to find a therapist that will work for you. For example if you think that the idea of a "shadow self" as a metaphor for parts of yourself that are hard to accept sounds right to you a Jungian therapist would be a good fit. If instead you find too much metaphorical language in therapy frustrating and you want to focus on the now then something more straightforward like solutions focused would be a better fit for you. Basically, a lot of paths can lead to the same place but the journey will be smoother on the path that you are most equipped for.
@@rochellerodriguez6431 Omg thank you so so much, you explain it so well❤️ it makes a lot of sense, probably could help patients to find a better match too!
@@rochellerodriguez6431 I really love people that take the time to explain something that they know more about, you’re amazing❤️
@Anna Alessandrini Thank you! Your enthusiasm is delightful. I love nerding out about therapy topics. I'm so glad you found this helpful :)
Hey Mickey! I'm 31 years old, and I spent my 20s being a low-wages worker. I'm back to school since 2020, I'm at the moment a psychology student in college and I want to become a clinician. To me, it felt like it was the best path to save myself and maybe help others in the same way. In my classes, issues like depression are discussed as a major cause of a loss of economic productivity and stuff like that. But, at the same time, the capitalist system itself is never, ever questioned as one of the possible causes of mental health issues, which I find VERY fucked up and infuriating, to the point where it's making me insecure about my choice in the first place. It feels like the whole domain is scared of politics or completely blind to it, as if it was a bad thing to actively question society and its core values. But isn't that questioning what psychotherapy is supposed to be? Thank you for your video, it's encouraging to see that I'm apparently not the only one who feels like we need to seriously question neo-liberal capitalism from a psychological perspective. After all, no revolution of any kind can happen before first changing the way we think about ourselves and about our place in this world. Sorry for my bad English. ^^'
Sure, we'll need to feed and cloth another "revolutionary" blah blah blah artist if you'll ever make it in your field. Why don't you revolutionize life in your immediate proximity before embracing change the world dreamscape? Loss of productivity and $ leads to the social segregation if not isolation. Suprisingly genuine low level parasites without shame or consciousness are generally immune to that. They commune and do drugs together, they are quite a content bunch. Don't try your revolution talk on them.
Im also a psychology student that wanted to become a clinician or work as a research. I slowly become disenchanted with some classes. But authors like Ian Parker are psychologist that write about the issues from the inside. Also theres research about how giving money to people reduces depressive symptoms more than therapy. The sad truth is that some situations cannot be fixed. Usually depression is seen as a burden to society and we dont even know why people get depressed and why the meds work.
@@earlydest I totally get the feeling! It tends to make me low key angry sometimes, lol. But I'll definitely look up Ian Parker, thanks for the suggestion :)
I can’t get over how perfect timing your videos are and how much of a breakthrough you have led me to psychologically and emotionally. I feel re-energized and inspired to continue to navigate the mental health industry, thank you so much for providing the links to different resources that I did not know about.
Even with my therapy, i feel Im pressured into finding work. I haven’t had a traditional job. Been disabled my entire life with it progressing in Mid teens to early adulthood. I’m 25. I want to work, there is just so much struggle and not enough accommodations and accessibility.
Exactly...
Good luck to you!
Wow, thank you. I am writing a paper on a policy analysis of the BC Mental Health Act as you speak today! I am looking through the lens of intersectionality and decolonization in order to asses equity and inclusion. Yes! we do need to address how Euro-paternalistic ideals that rob folks of self determination and epistemological justice!
I just love your channel!
Hi Mickey, only recently subbed to you after finding your channel towards the end of last year and I want to say thank you. Not only has your channel been very informative for me when it comes to therapy, mental health, relationships and so much more, but it also feels very welcoming, inclusive and safe here. I'm still very much trying to figure out who I am in many ways, (for example i'm a guy that really wants to try wearing feminine clothing but i'm still working up the courage to do so), but knowing that there are kind, accepting and supportive people like you and the community around your channel really helps me. So thank you once again! ❤ :3
Yes please to more of this conversation!
I've been trying to explain this to various people in my life and resources like this really help.
I really appreciate your view on the therapist-client relathionship. There’s a lot of power imbalance and the “medical authority model” can be even more problematic in the relathionship more constant and intimate that exist in a therapy setting
Baker act should not be legal
People will always blame the individual instead of taking a serious look at how the society itself is toxic.
I'm so glad you made this video my mom has a chronic illness and lots of health issues, so it's hard for her to work a lot. She gets crap from my family for it despite her making more money working part time now than at her last job that had a 40 hour work week. People only care about productivity and it's unfortunate that society only values people who are productive.
Yes, yes capitalism does that. We cannot be healthy in that system
Agreed.
The difficult thing for me is that I want to be productive - just not in the way it is perpetuated in capitalism. I want to be productive in the sense to help create what is of use to me and others. I don't want to work for someone else or for me, but for the collective. I find this sort of productivity healing. I just struggle to find ways to implement that in our capitalistic society. I feel like to be productive in that sort of way, you need to already have resources to use, and for those you would have to already work under the capitalist machine, leaving you with less energy and time to do that.
This is one of the most validating videos I’ve ever seen, thank you. It’s nice to hear people talk about our oppressive society, it seems so taboo everywhere.
I'm a 2nd year MSW student. I like therapy and connecting with people. But I've been grappling with this (and questioning the profession as being an enabler). Other aspects of the field are more than enabling and serve as a "soft" arm of the state (jailing and separating poor families).
This video means a lot to me. Ever since my physical and mental health plummeted I’ve felt like I’m not a real person for not contributing to the economy, and this topic of going to therapy to get you to be “normal” and honestly doing something that at the end of the day doesn’t even matter so I can be viewed as a human being again has been so painful. Thank you for talking about this issue. It’s exactly why when my doctors try to push me into therapy I don’t want it. Not to mention their therapist downplays the physical pain I’m in and only wants to discuss surface level issues when I have a lifetime of trauma keeping me stuck. I didn’t think about reclaiming my life as an act of rebellion, but I’m glad I could hear this to plant that seed. I really have felt so lost, and this is the talk I needed to hear. Thank you. Oh by the way I took a chance and emailed a therapist you linked for sliding scale. Will update with hopefully good news.
Really interesting perspective on use of client/patient. I’m not a practitioner but someone who’s needed mental health services throughout my life. For me, viewing my mental health struggles as nothing different than going to a doctor for my body was what unlocked me being able to get care. Normalizing mental healthcare as one additional component in my overall health was so freeing. It enabled me to say, it’s not me who’s broken, there’s just a part that isn’t functioning well just like a diabetic. So I really like “patient.” For me, client feels so transactional.
yup... the fact that therapists and counsels can't think of a better word than "client" to describe the ppl they provide their services to is the first red flag among many
Thank you for this topic. I know it's difficult. As an anthropologist, I understand where you're coming from when you talk about clinicians being stuck. Both of our fields started out defining the other. Now they are at the forefront of redefining and taking back for those who have been othered for so long.
My current goal in therapy is to be able to return to work. That is what the insurance company requires. I definitely don’t feel like any of it is to actually help me.
That is so sad, and wrong.
Please remember you are worth far more than what you can earn, we might not be quite as sick as we think, our "issues' could actually be strengths in a society that had different expectations of what normal should be...
It's the world, not us, and that's NOT FAIR...
Best of luck, I hope you find a way that honors your humanity and lets you find some peace, not just a job...
@@pariahmouse7794 Thank you for your compassion ❤️
Can you try quiet quitting? Do the bare minimum possible
I’ve been wondering how to cope with living in a capitalistic hellscape for like a few months at this point lol and it’s a constant battle! It was so validating to hear you talk about this and acknowledge there’s no one single answer to the problem, and also open the conversation about how therapy is often a means to “fix” mental illness to function in the machine. The other day I saw someone say something along the lines of “healing means nothing when you’re measuring it against a very sick society” & I felt it really encapsulates this issue-our society is really fractured right now, and I was having such a difficult time figuring out how I could navigate therapy when a lot of what I struggle with are things outside of my control. Anyways. I really love everything you said in this video.
I’m lucky to have a progressive therapist and she helps me understand that “all these systems unfortunately have to work together and they don’t…” and it helps me alleviate some anxiety knowing that I’m not part of the problem.
THANK YOU!! I’ve always been unheard by my therapists because they never came from a marginalized group and just kind of said what you said; coping skill out of it. 💛
It was so lovely listening to you talk about this extremely interesting topic and recognizing that my therapist has been doing the things you recommend from the jump (without her ever even mentioning capitalism). It has been so healing work with her on redefining my value as inherently in me and not from what I produce for society.
This really spoke to me. I'm currently working on redefining my value as inherently in me instead of what I eat or what I look like. I'm trying to shed my emotional investment in toxic cultural systems that feed capitalism by just not caring about them anymore. But it's a process. Old habits are hard to break.
I come across this alllll the time in therapy. I can deal with my disabilities and ocd okay enough without outside pressure dictating what I have to do, but capitalism just makes everything so much worse. I can't live alone for one, so I have to live with my parents because I have no interest in or have the ability to have a partner. I also can only work about 30 hours a week max and need flexible hours at-home work, which is hard to find and is often low-paying. But I need that money to pay my ridiculous medical expenses (which would DESTROY me if it weren't for the ACA) and of course my therapist lol. I only have so many good hours in a day before I'm totally exhausted, and basically, all of that goes into working and otherwise maintaining myself. There's very little I do in my life that's fulfilling because I just don't have enough spoons for it. No friends to hang out with, no meaningful hobbies. Just surviving.
My therapist is progressive, she also hates the state of society and thinks capitalism is destroying us, ESPECIALLY the vulnerable and weak. After years of failing in the public school system, failing in the workforce, failing as a patient (permanently disabled) and failing to be what society "wants" (productive cog) I have basically no self-esteem and consider myself a failure as a person now. When I see conservatives continue to push legislation that would make my life harder and cut me off from resources, I think to myself, wow, a huge majority of people in this country want me to either suffer more, or more conveniently, not exist!!!
Like how am I supposed to get anywhere in therapy if my very existence is an affront to the world I live in? I find myself becoming more and more despondent. The joy is being sucked out of me. My life is meaningless. Everything I want are all things that are impossible. I'm never going to be able to create art or friendship or leave any kind of mark on this world when I'm exhausted all the time.
It doesn't help when I've been in inpatient / intensive outpatient treatment, psych wards, etc, where all their goals were always the usual: Work 40 hours a week, get out of your parent's house, get off your meds, etc. They don't care about your happiness. They just want you to be productive, no matter how impossible it is. It just makes me want to give up.
I am in a very similar situation, except I have no living family to support or even help me- I have an excellent partner who supports me, but the guilt and shame I feel is huge at not being able to help him in any financially demonstrable way, I sometimes wish i wasn't alive, and I most definitely don't WANT to die, I just can't afford to live...
Best of luck to you, I hope it works out somehow!
This is amazing. I cannot tell you how many times I have felt similar about how companies have manipulated the therapy industry to benefit their own agenda (i.e., profits via productivity.) Instead of playing off of employees' strengths, they try to enforce these expectations that everyone should think, present and behave the exact same way because being (let's call it what it is, overly eager extroverts who live to do nothing more than serve (aka workhorses) is what benefits companies the most. Frankly, it is the lazy and unimaginative way of running these companies/corporations.
Yet, it goes so much deeper than this, and I learned this recently when I came across a hurdle I am facing in trying to earn a bachelor's degree from the university I attend. They have a requirement for anyone trying to earn a degree, regardless of what they plan on doing with their lives, to take an "Oral Communications" class. The problem is they call it "Oral Communications," but it always requires either standing in front of an audience or posting a video of themselves (in the case of the class I did attempt to take showing at least the waist up to the face). What gets me is that they don't care how negative this may make someone feel. For me, it is mentally debilitating. I hate what I see when I am on camera and when I look in the mirror (and it has gotten worse as I have gotten older and gained weight), so when I have to put myself on display for other people to view, that is all I can think about; all the horrible things I have heard someone say in the past, or the thoughts I have about myself being vocalized internally by the audience. Videos and photos are honestly worse because they are images of me that can be accessed over and over again, forever.
What really gets me, though, is that they call it "Oral Communications." So, if that is an accurate descriptor of the requirement, why are the assignments not just done using audio recordings? After all, that is how online Modern Languages classes work. To me, it is just the common trope in our society that extroverts are better for any role at any given time, and fuck all to the introverts. I tried requesting an alternative, explaining my situation telling them I would be willing to take a writing course which is part of the Communications department, but they came back with the whole maybe I should seek professional help. Implying that there is something wrong with me for not wanting to be on camera or in the spotlight.
Why? Why is being this way seen as a bad thing? Especially in our current "look at me" Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook society? Couldn't we really use more people who would rather send out meaningful messages in the form of written expression or even just audio recordings? You know, something people may actually have to take the time to read, or Odin forbid, actually listening to someone based on what they are saying and not just clicking on their media because of how they look? But no, I am wrong according to our society, which unfortunately is run by greedy capitalists robots. Individualism and creative minds are snuffed out. On that note, even if I was one of the most beautiful women on the planet, if I still had the same personality I do now, I would not want to be the center of attention or in the spotlight in any capacity. It is not who I am. I think it is ridiculous that everywhere I go, there is not only an obsession with wanting everyone to be extroverts but also expecting people to not give an ounce of thought to their own privacy. We are expected to not have up any walls and always just let anyone and everyone invade our privacy, space, and time. At any given time, be available and ready at their convenience and completely sacrifice our own. (At least, that has been the experience for me.)
You're right that society rewards extroverts.
Woah I didn’t notice Fab Socialism featured your video! I love when creators I watch build on each others work
Hello, I am a new anti-capitalist therapist (graduated May 2021) and I have been STRUGGLING. Not only because I am expected to BE a cog in the capitalist machine but also because there are latent expectations that I churn out MORE COGS (my clients). There are times I give into resignation and despair because I feel like I do not fit into the larger mental health field and actively resist and challenge diagnostics and increasing patholoization of the human experience. Thank you for making a video about that that come at a time I really need it. Everyday I think about leaving the field but today I have hope reading these comments and hearing you speak.
This is such an important topic, and even in what you were able to touch upon I learned a lot. I saw Fab Socialism’s BetterHelp video earlier, too, and I’m so glad you chose to follow up on it with a video of your own!
This is the first time I've seen an explicitly anti-capitalist video on therapy and related topics, at least from anyone who works in the field. I always assume people who make these videos do so from an ostensibly apolitical perspective, which means in practice, pro-capitalist. That means I've tended to have the two areas of discourse mostly separated in my mind. I wonder increasingly about how they should intersect, but I don't have many answers. This video seems like a great first step towards integrating the discussion. It recognizes the fact that pursuing mental health happens in a world that wants us dead, or at best, wants us to be dehumanized exploitable robots. I'm very grateful for the discussion.
For what it's worth, I'm noticing more and more youtube creators use the kind of language you use in this video, i.e., language that recognizes the need for revolution. Five years ago this would have been unthinkable on youtube, except among the tiny subset of nearly-invisible explicitly communist and anarchist channels. The best-known leftist channels rarely spoke this way. But I see it now in many channels that are larger than those old ones, channels which are not restricted to a single clearly-defined radical ideology. This makes me very happy. But I wonder what will happen if youtube starts to notice.
One more note on this video: I've always thought that much of the language used to talk about mental health, and the kind of life that's considered the ideal, is functionally a distraction from the realities of the world as it is -- capitalist, racist, misogynist, homophobic, etc. In other words, we are told that we should strive to "live our best lives," and it's taken for granted that our society does not make this extremely difficult, or impossible, for most people. So the world of therapy rests on a fundamental contradiction. You didn't express these issues in this fashion, but what I see your video doing is moving in the direction of addressing that contradiction.
Thank you so very much.
Edit: just to clarify: I know "revolution" is a loaded term. When I say revolution I mean destroying white supremacist patriarchal capitalism and replacing it with a system that seeks the welfare of every human being. I'm not saying anything about tactics, but I am saying that reformism is insufficient to address what needs to happen.
For so long, I thought that there was something fundamentally wrong with me- why was I depressed, I had a great life and so much to be grateful for. When looking for the answer it always led to capitalism. My value was tied to work and school. Over the years those feelings waned because I found a passion entirely removed from capitalism (aka the reward was simple participation and self growth through the sport, instead of money). But still those feelings stuck in the back of my mind and I just wanted to say- old me would have loved to see this. It may not be a healing video but it sure as hell could have set me on a better path of acceptance early on.
this was a really interesting video! i went thru a whole childhood of court ordered therapy and psychiatry and couldnt find more than one single person who made me feel like a human
Thank you for speaking about this
Tbh as I was listening (prior to the 5 minutes mark) I realized that I (a therapist myself) think doctors should work to be more like therapists in terms of the way they view patients and treat them. I've had so many negative interactions with physicians recently where I didn't get enough time or information about the problem I needed addressed.
Also the therapy I do with my clients doesn't feel like making capitalism stronger. I think I do a decent job to help people find their joy and take their time back from capitalism. Glad you made the video.
I don’t think that labeling my mental health problems as “problems” is disempowering 🤷🏻♀️ for me, identifying the problem is where I start planning how I’m going to handle it.
I think I understand both sides. Labelling mental illness as a problem is helpful in the sense that it validates the fact that someone is deeply struggling with their mental health. This means that it doesn't just have to do with how productive that person is, but how they feel on a daily basis, which is personal and empowering. However, saying that being upset with the state of the world makes someone "ill" invalidates the fact that the world is a fundamentally f-cked up place and we SHOULD have emotional conflict living in it.
Thank you so much for continuing this conversation. Your comments hit me squarely in my mid-life re-evaluation of direction. I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’m leaving in the world, hearing about the connection to the ideals of capitalism and the pressure implied there was exactly what I needed today to ease that burden.
You said the thing! The thing that's always there and nags at the back of your mind in therapy, there it is! Not coping skills. Loving ourselves and our lives skills first.
Surprised I wasn't subscribed after appreciating so many videos from this one to many before it. Thanks!
Wow thank you for this video. I am currently in school to be an art therapist, and this is what a lot of our discussions are about. We are helpers, not fixers. Each individual holds their own empowerment and answers, and to apply any arbitrary western medical model onto a complex and multidimensional person without consideration for what does not fit in that model, does them a disservice. Well done! 🌸🌸
I love how you explained this in 20 minutes because I could see this be talked about not in an hour but days thank you
This is a topic ive thought about a lot.
Like.
Mental illness is, to my best understanding, basically defined as "youre so different that youre having a hard time"
Like. I genuinely think my amount of anxiety is the amount of anxiety that i should have given what life is like for me.
And the fact that like a crazy amount of people are so different that they are having a hard time means that we need to change normal, not change us.
One of my biggest struggles is that i genuinely believe that im taking drugs (prescribed) to pretend im supposed to exist in the world as it is. Im not. And many people arent. And us all forcing ourself to fit into a normal enough mold to survive... like on an individual level, its helpful, but on a societal level, it seems like getting drunk and ignoring the problem.
That's a great point, well said!
Was interesting hearing you talk about patient v client. I live in Australia and when I used to see the community mental health team when you were inpatient you were a patient, when you saw your case manager you were a client. Towards the end of when I was seeing that team there was a move to call people consumers instead. The rationale was that changing the wording from client to consumer meant that the person using the service felt more like they were involved in the process rather than it was something being done to them.
I am so excited to hear about this topic, but especially so from Mickey! I’ve just finished my Career Development textbook, and the chapters on job transfer and taking a job after retirement really had me thinking dark thoughts.
I have a very strained relationship with therapy, to say the least. In my country, you can be forced to attend therapy in order to receive unemployment benefits, which is what happened to me when I had dropped out of school due to depression and anxiety caused by bullying. To me, therapy felt like an unfair punishment - my bullies were backpacking in Cambodia, I was in therapy. The focus on the individual, far from feeling empowering, always felt like victim-blaming to me. The problem wasn't society, it was my thoughts, feelings and behaviours which were all "wrong". If I wanted a chance at a "normal" life, the one other girls my age had, I had to be "a good patient" and "function". So I did. I stopped going to the mandated therapy, but I lost weight, stopped drinking, self-harming etc. went back to school, got a job - you name it, I did it - to escape therapy.
Back then I had vowed to never enter a therapist's office again. I have a life that I love and worked hard for and I am happy. Haven't had a major depressive episode in almost a decade. Do I still have bad days? Sure, but they aren't the majority. However, I am still very aware of my past and extremely afraid of "falling back into it", which is why I'm meticulous about "doing things right" - exercising, diet, mindfulness, whatever. There is a coworker, let us call her Susan, who I used to be friends with and who knows most of my past. Susan is a huge fan of psychodynamic therapy and has been trying to push me to undego it. The first time she did so, I had a massive panic attack and couldn't function for a few days, because the thought of going back to therapy to me meant losing this life that I love so much. When I explained this to Susan, she called my reaction "excessive" and "unhealed trauma" - which is of course why I need therapy :P She did that a few more times, calling me anything from immature to narcissistic, until I finally stopped talking to her outside of meetings.
As this community seems pro-therapy, here are some questions: Is Susan right? Do I "have to" go to therapy and "have to" work through my trauma? Should people ever be forced to undergo therapy? Is it possible to live a happy, healthy, "productive" life without going to therapy?
For now, i maintain my stance that therapy isn't for me and my right to live a life free from therapy, because to me the life I have gained, have built for myself, is far too precious to risk for the undefined benefits that may be gained from "working through it". But in contemporary Western society, therapy has become so hegemonic, that short of moving to Papua New Guinea, I don't think I will be able to avoid "Susans" in the future. So how does someone like me engage with the pro-therapy community? Can we find a way to co-exist?
I feel like the ideals that therapy promotes are honestly anti capitalist, which is what we need. My family bitches about ai taking jobs (now and later on) and then are also upset that less people are having families etc. but if people are happier it doesn’t matter! I hope ai can be used for jobs that suck for humans and for “working” to be more of a choice somehow. Idk how we could achieve that tho
The powers that be won't allow it to happen, no matter how possible it is...
Thanks for covering this topic. My own therapists (four different ones over my lifetime) have never covered this, or even suggested any simple living, anticapitalist or mutual aid solutions. The paradigm was always that it was me, not my environment, that needed to be worked on.
I've had a therapist or two who's taken into account the family system, how I should change jobs, etc.
I think I would benefit from therapy but since I lack the financial stability for it, I have to make do with whatever advice I get from books and videos like the ones Mickey and Dr. Tracey Marks make. Having online friends who talk about what they do to manage their symptoms and the therapies they've tried helps, too.
Patrick Teahan is another good one here on RUclips! He makes a lot of videos mostly surrounding childhood trauma.
Brilliant. I'm going to be starting school to become a therapist next year, and I will definitely be returning to this video in the future.
Also, friendly book recommendation: Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey. So. Damn. Good.
Requested audiobook from my library. Thanks!
yes. more of this conversation.
This system doesn't allow for anyone to have differing skill sets.
What if we let people do what they could do that no one else could? What if we let people do what they are good at? What if we viewed all contributions to society as valuable, whether those contributions could be easily shared or not, whether they could make a profit for someone or not, whether they took 40 hours a week or not?
What if we recognized that a person who must spend 40-60 hours per week taking care of themselves was not "a sponge" because they werent' spending another 40 making a profit for someone else, but was, in fact, contributing to society by taking care of themselves, freeing others who might have to care for them if they WERE working 40 hours per week , so that those others might contribute in turn.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, am 66, disabled, and have had numerous psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, and licenced social workers tell me that this region has no problems with systemic, intersectional, racialized class, that modern psychology has no opinion about racism, that there is nothing I can do about the racist beliefs and actions of others, that my heath depends on my acceptance of this reality. When I have asked what the basis is, what school of thought informs various individuated and group therapy programs offered, the reaction is thinly veiled anger at my my hubris for daring to ask, the suggestion I wouldn't understand if explained, abruptly being told I wasn't suitable for the group, another cussed me out on the phone and hung up. I never see representation among BIPOC professionals in mental health and there are negative bias-driven behaviors by providers that I experience as a Black Trans Woman that white, Latino, Asian, and other POC higher within the racialized class system do not.
Thank you so much for this, i knew deep inside when seeing three different therapists that they were not for me, you covered everything that was expressed to me in therapy which did not work for my particular issues/condition. I am a black gay man, it seems therapy is just now becoming what I need to take from it.
Honestly I wish you had online availability.
Thank you once again.🙏🏽
Omfg. My mom is a licensed therapist and I was JUST having a similar conversation about this with her. She is so emotionally burnt out and works so much. Something that really fucking pisses me off is when people say just the most ghastly ignorant shit like “well why did you become a counselor? you’re not going to make money blah blah blah” or whatever some dumb shit and it’s mindless regurgitated capitalist thinking. I tell those people, um, do you realize not every person can go into STEM, right? Like that’s not how a marketplace works unless you want a field way over-saturated with STEM majors and all other kinds of industries that are fundamental to literally living everyday would go kaput. As a STEM major myself, this seems like some pretty basic shit to understand, but I digress. We need to divorce this “everything is for a profit” bullshit because it’s a literal fucking unbridled capitalistic hellscape that is running everyone (minus those at the tippy top) into the ground).
You're absolutely right, Sarah. I'm an unemployed masters student in chemical engineering. We have over saturated the market with STEM majors.
Im glad you are starting talking about this. I was recently on an IOP, and i eventually got frustrated and diacouraged bc like...when i talked about my issues (long covid, the ongoing pandemic, the genocide attempt happening against trans people) they had 0 idea how to like..talk to me about it. It was all just coping skills and redirecting thoughts and shit i legit already have bc ive been in and out of theraoy since i was 15.
It was shit that was just about getting patients back to some kind of normal and working again. I understlod that their focus was getting people out of a mental health crisis to a more stable position, but it also feels like..actual gaslighting? Like telling me i'm not seeing the situation clearly bc i'm tired of constantly fighting, and not being able to comprehend how exhausting it is to live as a very marginalized person in our society.
It made me feel worse in fact, and they were gonna dump me anyway bc my long covid fatigue made it so hard to go every single day and they were not willing to work with me haha. So i quit. And its like..because its all of this. Its this production focused therapy, and it not helpful. In fact it just makes you feel like what you feel isnt real or that it matters, and that youre just weak and sick for not being able to take it anymore.
So. Yeah. I hope more therapists like you become more common. Therapy shouldnt be a tool to better prolong capitalism and oppression.
Thank you for this important discussion and bringing awareness to the bleakness of the state right now!!! I’m a social work student and I’m working my hardest to try to mitigate the effects of capitalism and where social work has failed previously to make changes. Everything that you’ve talked about in your video is literally everything I have been learning about and discussing in my program. This is so so so so relevant and I appreciated like-minded individuals sharing their perspective amongst the sea of the typical rhetorics and narratives seen in society today. Thank you for making the content that you do!!!!
Most of the first 11 years of therapy we went through was not about helping us to feel better, but about showing less visible signs of distress 😐
Now we need therapy for our therapy trauma 😅 in addition to what we originally went to therapy for.
The algorithm pushed this video into my feed today, and the title caught my eye! I didn't know that this concept is being discussed-- glad to see it! We are going through a major shift in society right now, people questioning the status quo all over. Such an interesting and complicated topic presented here, much appreciated
thank you so much for taking on this topic! the impact of living in a capitalist hellscape cannot be understated when the rise in mental illnesses among (young) people is discussed. I'm lucky to have found a therapist who keeps this in mind.
I love working with my therapist, she's always been anti-capitalist without ever getting preachy
I remember when i was talking to my ex therapist about how being autistic in a capitalist society, knowing i probably will be stuck in a job that ill hate, working 10h a day, contributes a lot to my suicidal and hopeless thoughts.
She proceeded to tell me that I don't have the right to kill myself because i have a talent that some people would give anything for (im an artist).
Great, thanks doc. I really appreciated being told that i cant even have the freedom to die because my abilities and productivity is too valuable to be wasted 💀