The Inextricable Connection Between Social Justice and Mental Health Treatment

What if we were to rewrite what we understand as psychological “symptoms” as survival skills for living in a toxic culture? What would it mean in terms of the stigma assigned to what we describe as “mental health”, for the connection we have to the people that have been identified as “sick” or “problematic”? What if instead of separating ourselves from each other after experiencing trauma, we instead developed deeper connections with each other, with the understanding that we are connected through our suffering, and that healing comes in community?

Recent cultural events have rattled the American Empire, resulting in much of our community reflecting on how massive discourses within capitalism impact us as individuals, on a frequent and regular basis.

Daily.

We are constructed and deconstructed by classism, racism, misogyny, homophobia and internalized oppression. By highlighting the population’s anger with how Empire operates, the recent assassination of a prominent CEO has served as a catalyst for individuals to consider their own position within the class system in the U.S. and whether or not it is working for they and their families. “One spark of refusal can lead to an upwelling of collective rage and insurrection. In this way, joy can erupt from despair, rage, hopelessness, resentment, or other so-called ‘negative’ emotions” (Joyful Militancy 2017) , and I’m here for it.

This has made its way into my office through the stories and narratives that individuals tell me about their own struggles within the capitalist system, and how this system has impacted their own mental health, perception and self-worth. This week, stories of hope and resistance have come forward, as well as awarenesses of how the system has harmed and formed aspects of our/their identities. Many individuals have started to remember their own strengths, as well as their connection to others that are equally angry with the system as it stands. They’ve reflected on how the impact of something like not being able to pay one’s rent on time influences one’s experience of depression or anxiety symptoms. Expressive anger against the system that has harmed you can assist one in re-membering a sense of agency and power, “Anger, in its natural, healthy form is a boundary defense, a dynamic activated when we perceive a threat to our lives or our physical or emotional integrity.” (The Myth of Normal, 2022)

As therapists, is social justice intrinsic to the work we do? Yes. Yes it is.

By collaborating with our clients to identify how cultural discourses have interacted with our mental health, we offer the opportunity to assist individuals as they free themselves from the shame and blame allotted to people when they are identified as “mentally ill”. Instead of treating them as “other”, and ourselves as “experts”, why not shed the toxic, negative and lethal tools of the Empire in order to rewrite the mental health system as a space where we collaborate to support people as they shed the fetters of judgment and shame, and stand up to the system that has harmed them? It is absolutely essential that we, as therapists, consider our role in the Empire, and remain mindful of whether we are embodying the same weaponized ‘compassion’ as the Empire to marginalize and harm people, keeping them out of the dominant conversation due to their mental health.

The history of mental health treatment in the United States, up to and including current systems, presents so many problems that as a therapist it is difficult to figure out how to stand outside of it, to protect our clients from the negative impact of some of its tentacles, particularly since we are trained to utilize some of these weapons as methods of “helping”. Instead, it is critical as clinicians to assist our clients to identify how their environment, social standing, treatment in the community and experiences of trauma (both social and personal) have influenced the way our clients operate in their community and perceive themselves. It is also critical for clinicians to understand the way that the Empire has impacted they themselves in order to prevent re-traumatizing others or utilizing one’s power in a toxic way. Being unaware of one’s own power as a therapist, or of the ways that Empire has encouraged one to keep clients marginalized and “other”, presents the reality that one can become as dangerous a threat as the system itself.

Too often, we forget the humanity of our neighbors, and/or if we are clinicians working within the field of mental health, our clients, and make the mistake of blaming individuals for their struggles and/or how they cope with the stress of living within a toxic culture. Perhaps in the realization of the world of unhappiness around us, a door opens that can assist us in remembering that we are all suffering in our own ways, and that in identifying the ways that a system causes us harm, we can collectively find a path that leads to liberation.

Works Cited:

Bergman, C., & Montgomery, N. (2018). Joyful militancy : building thriving resistance in toxic times. Ak Press.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, Bloomsbury Academic, 1970.

Gabor Maté, & Maté, D. (2022). The Myth of Normal. Random House