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There is an exploding crisis in the US resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of lives’ potential cut short & immeasurable pain, suffering & oppression.
And then the COVID‑19 pandemic hit.
Mental Health in a Society Gone Mad; Thread 1/30
And then the COVID‑19 pandemic hit.
Mental Health in a Society Gone Mad; Thread 1/30
*Prior* to the pandemic & economic fallout virtually every mental health metric in the US was off the charts.
Suicide was at the highest level in decades ( @CDCgov) with more Americans dying of suicide EVERY year, then in the ENTIRE Vietnam War. 2/30
Suicide was at the highest level in decades ( @CDCgov) with more Americans dying of suicide EVERY year, then in the ENTIRE Vietnam War. 2/30
‘Deaths of Despair,’ often linked to hopelessness, alienation & misery - including suicide, drug, & alcohol abuse-related deaths were at record highs.
Opioids, which numbs life’s pain & anxiety, are at crisis levels.
There are over 1M suicide attempts EVERY year in the US! 3/30
Opioids, which numbs life’s pain & anxiety, are at crisis levels.
There are over 1M suicide attempts EVERY year in the US! 3/30
By all indications the Coronavirus Pandemic, or more accurately, our society’s response to the pandemic is pushing the mental health crisis over the edge with some crisis agencies reporting “more than 1,000 percent increase” in emotional distress since April!! ( @samhsagov) 4/30
By & large, the causes of the exploding mental health crisis are SYSTEMATIC: capitalism, racism, sexism, classism, authoritarianism, homophobia, transphobia etc.
Ours is a broken society & every mental health metric paints a picture of people crying out for radical change. 5/30
Ours is a broken society & every mental health metric paints a picture of people crying out for radical change. 5/30
It’s not that Americans are inherently more broken. It’s that our societal institutions are breaking us, alienating us & oppressing us. & many of our cultural & kinship safety nets have been tattered away.
The diagnosis is systemic & thus, the solution must also be systemic 6/30
The diagnosis is systemic & thus, the solution must also be systemic 6/30
Studies show that most of our stress & anxiety is rooted in societal causes. Economic distress, lack of economic/ health-care security, institutional racism, soul-crushing alienation, patriarchal relationships, authoritarian repression etc (see APA’s Stress in America). 7/30
And yet the Mainstream Media & popular discourse are entirely devoid of any sort of systemic analysis connecting people’s lived experiences of pain, alienation & oppression with the TRUE sources: capitalism, sexism, racism, authoritarianism etc. 8/30
This INTENTIONAL failure of the MSM compounds the crisis.
It leaves people (at least those without access to leftist critiques of society), without even a language of systemic analysis & oppression.
Thus, many internalize their pain & suffering as their own failings! 9/30
It leaves people (at least those without access to leftist critiques of society), without even a language of systemic analysis & oppression.
Thus, many internalize their pain & suffering as their own failings! 9/30
Our mental health crisis paints a bleak picture of a failing society. People pushed to the edge by massive stress & anxiety of tattered social safety-nets, 50-years of stagnant wages while the cost of living creeps up every year, crushing medical & school debt, etc. 10/30
The roots of the mental health crisis are systemic.
For example, Capitalism is inherently alienating & soul-crushing, leaving approximately 85% of workers “not engaged” & unfulfilled at their jobs. 11/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1212842818286211072
For example, Capitalism is inherently alienating & soul-crushing, leaving approximately 85% of workers “not engaged” & unfulfilled at their jobs. 11/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1212842818286211072
Capitalism is also inherently unjust & unfair. Rather than rewarding work fairly & equitably for things we have actual control over like effort, sacrifice, or duration of work, capitalism rewards bargaining power.
Capitalism is systematic injustice. 12/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1230953222375763969
Capitalism is systematic injustice. 12/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1230953222375763969
Capitalism also goes against our natural tendencies, inherently crushing the best of humanity.
Capitalism systematically rewards heartlessness & callousness while punishing empathy & compassion: 13/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1223375405295386624
Capitalism systematically rewards heartlessness & callousness while punishing empathy & compassion: 13/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1223375405295386624
Politically, the corporate-owned duopoly, essentially ‘two factions’ of the same corporate party, both elevate the interests of corporations & the 1% over the interests & desires of the population, in effect *curtailing democracy*: 14/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1285647367585374208
What happens when the political process is SO disconnected from democratic control that most people feeling like they have little to no say in any of the decisions that affect their lives?
That feeling is called alienation & it's PERVASIVE in the US 15/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1283648404598386688
That feeling is called alienation & it's PERVASIVE in the US 15/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1283648404598386688
Systematic sexism is also pervasive in the US. Patriarchy, rape culture, toxic masculinity, gendered divisions of labor & sexism permeate every aspect of society.
We are forced to contort our authentic selves into gendered boxes of what it means to be a ‘man’ or ‘woman.’ 16/30
We are forced to contort our authentic selves into gendered boxes of what it means to be a ‘man’ or ‘woman.’ 16/30
1 in 6 women in the US has been a victim of rape. 1 in 4 girls is sexually assaulted by the age of 18. 1 in 3 women have experienced sexual violence at during their life.
All these stats are even worse for our more vulnerable communities: POC, indigenous, disabled, etc. 17/30
All these stats are even worse for our more vulnerable communities: POC, indigenous, disabled, etc. 17/30
Not only do over 90% of victims of sexual assault experience trauma such as PTSD long after the assault, but the trauma is felt throughout all of society.
All of this takes a toll on mental health. 18/30
All of this takes a toll on mental health. 18/30
60’s feminists hypothesized that sociologically, rape is analogous to lynching: ‘rape is to gender what lynching is to race’ meaning its function is to instill fear & keep women ‘in their place’ within society. 19/30
Given that most women fear “everyday life scenarios” like walking or jogging alone, using ride-sharing services, or simply taking out the trash at night, statistics suggest rape culture is pervasive in the US. 20/30
Sexist conceptions of “men’s” and “women’s” roles in society still permeate political & economic opportunities. Gendered pay gaps, opportunity gaps & gendered tracking still exist.
From a young age, girls & boys are still tracked along highly gendered trajectories. 21/30
From a young age, girls & boys are still tracked along highly gendered trajectories. 21/30
Systematic & institutional racism permeates every aspect of our society.
Quality-education discrimination, hiring discrimination, pay discrimination, lending discrimination & various layers of economic discrimination exist systematically in the US. 22/30
Quality-education discrimination, hiring discrimination, pay discrimination, lending discrimination & various layers of economic discrimination exist systematically in the US. 22/30
Black communities are disproportionately policed, disproportionately pulled-over, disproportionately stopped & searched, disproportionately brutalized, disproportionately booked & disproportionately given longer sentences for disproportionately lesser ‘crimes.’ 23/30
Communities of color are regularly brutalized & terrorized. Black, Brown & poor families are disproportionately affected by the racist & classist US criminal injustice system.
Institutional racism takes a massive toll on mental health. 24/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1272056666834350081
Institutional racism takes a massive toll on mental health. 24/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1272056666834350081
Immigrant communities are regularly terrorized & traumatized by racist & violent ICE raids, family separation, indefinite detention & unaccounted for disappearances.
US immigration policy is racist, cruel & traumatizing. 25/30
US immigration policy is racist, cruel & traumatizing. 25/30
Institutional racism systematically under-develops & under-nurtures communities of color. From underfunding of schools, to police repression, from environmental racism to economic injustice –racism curtails the lives & potentials of POC.
And all this takes its toll too. 26/30
And all this takes its toll too. 26/30
Capitalist atomization has broken much of our natural bonds of kinship, community & culture. Layers of safety nets have been tattered. And most of the bonds that remain, like social media, are commodified, unfulfilling & distort our natural tendencies. 27/30
Our society is sick & broken. And it is literally making us sick & killing us.
The diagnosis is capitalism, anti-democratic authoritarianism, racism, sexism, homophobia & transphobia.
The prescription is radical change for the better. 28/30
The diagnosis is capitalism, anti-democratic authoritarianism, racism, sexism, homophobia & transphobia.
The prescription is radical change for the better. 28/30
We on the left need to continue connecting the dots of oppression: help people connect their experiences of pain, alienation, anxiety, stress & oppression with their TRUE institutional & societal causes. 29/30
We need to present an alternative vision of society.
A society that inherently maximizes human fulfillment & potential, rather than what we are currently enduring: a sick & broken potential-destroying society of oppression, alienation & anxiety. 30/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1157358909054574592
A society that inherently maximizes human fulfillment & potential, rather than what we are currently enduring: a sick & broken potential-destroying society of oppression, alienation & anxiety. 30/30 https://twitter.com/ArashKolahi/status/1157358909054574592
