I'm all about that Alienation, but in the face of my autistic alienation, the capitalist alienation is more of a weak force, but there is soo many kinds of alienation going on for me, lol
I think Chapman is on stronger grounds when he talks about capitalism's impact on mental health but I still think he makes a category confusion. Because capitalists tend to view poverty as rooted in the individual and not caused by the systemic functioning of capitalism itself, I can see how Chapman can extend that to criticise the medical model, however I thank that's a mistake, because poverty, as real as it most certainly is, is only real in relation to the fiction that is money and economy. In societies with no money and no wealth accumulation there is no poverty. So poverty is 100% a social construct. Illnesses and disorders are however biologically and physically real. One thing that capitalism has done which I believe has really damaged mental health is the promotion of the idea of 'happiness'. Happiness is central to getting people to buy stuff that they don't need, because you sell them the idea that purchasing the items will bring this state of happiness that is so valorised. But the reality is that we can't be happy all the time. I think people measure themselves against the unachievable happiness standard and suffer poorer mental health because of it. The ACT therapy themed book 'The Happiness Trap' goes into this idea quite a bit. That said, I personally make a distinction between mental ill health - which I definitely think is on the rise and has a predominately social origin vs mental illness which is far rarer and more biologically rooted. Both are important and have to be addressed, but I don't think they are the same.
I read that they did a study on poor people and money management and most poor people had good money managing skills.
I'm all about that Alienation, but in the face of my autistic alienation, the capitalist alienation is more of a weak force, but there is soo many kinds of alienation going on for me, lol
I think Chapman is on stronger grounds when he talks about capitalism's impact on mental health but I still think he makes a category confusion. Because capitalists tend to view poverty as rooted in the individual and not caused by the systemic functioning of capitalism itself, I can see how Chapman can extend that to criticise the medical model, however I thank that's a mistake, because poverty, as real as it most certainly is, is only real in relation to the fiction that is money and economy. In societies with no money and no wealth accumulation there is no poverty. So poverty is 100% a social construct. Illnesses and disorders are however biologically and physically real.
One thing that capitalism has done which I believe has really damaged mental health is the promotion of the idea of 'happiness'. Happiness is central to getting people to buy stuff that they don't need, because you sell them the idea that purchasing the items will bring this state of happiness that is so valorised. But the reality is that we can't be happy all the time. I think people measure themselves against the unachievable happiness standard and suffer poorer mental health because of it. The ACT therapy themed book 'The Happiness Trap' goes into this idea quite a bit.
That said, I personally make a distinction between mental ill health - which I definitely think is on the rise and has a predominately social origin vs mental illness which is far rarer and more biologically rooted. Both are important and have to be addressed, but I don't think they are the same.