PRABHAVA INSTITUTE OF INCLUSIVE MENTAL HEALTH LLP
In such a world, who would still feel anxious?
Who would still feel low?
And what would those feelings be telling us?
“But this is not the world we live in. We live in one organised by patriarchy and capitalism. Think of what it asks of us, every day. What do we feel, in our bodies and in our relationships, as we try to keep up?”
Rethinking Mental Health
In a place like this, we began to wonder about the idea of mental health.
Our understanding of mental health is that it is directly shaped by the social situation of individuals and communities.
As societies become more structured, rules of success and failure emerge. We begin to measure ourselves and others through these lenses.
When social inequalities exist, people experience themselves as less than or more than—attaching their sense of self and belonging to socially created identities.
So, to return to our question: much of the stress, anxiety, low mood, fear and anger we carry is not random. When our sense of worth depends on measuring up, we are always in one of two states. We are trying hard to match up to the structures around us, or we are exhausted from trying. Anxiety, fear and anger live in the effort. Low mood and numbness live in the burnout. These are not simply individual failings. They are responses to the way we have been asked to live.
These inequalities are not incidental.
They are linked to how societies are organised through
, and other intersectional dominant social structures.
Mental Health is Social Health
Social Structures & Psychological Pain
A
Collective
IMAGINATION
Imagine we lived together collectively. Waking up to clean air, food, and water. Doing activities that are generative and energising. Imagine doing this without the pressure to match up to ideas of success measured through possessions—wealth, looks, relationships, intelligence.
We share resources and take responsibility for one another as a collective. Not by building territories, but by holding clear boundaries shaped by respect for each other.
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