Mental Health in a capitalist world

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4 Comments

  1. Ideasmith, this is some great writing.

    I often like visiting bookstores like Crosswords (just to observe them because the book collection is no longer very good there) The trending books there are all about productivity, books on called successful people and spiritualism. It is almost like a cycle. Become super productive, feel empty and anxious because of comparisons to successful people, find some spiritualistic or psychological tools to cope with the anxiety and then back again into productivity.

    Friends meeting and talking for a few hours over cups of tea is now leisure or a luxury, which too is nicely packaged by corporatization as some activity.

    Big corporations, especially in the world of big tech, a lot of them have no accountability for ethics or any semblance of an idea of ethics.

    I do not mean best practices here, but actually a guiding core ethics that applies to tech (eg: Medicine’s “Do no harm” or the Hippocratic Oath)

    Thanks for capturing this angst well.

    1. @Aditya: Yes, the bookstores have been a dead giveaway of this shift in culture for over a decade. You see it in every place from the large chain formats to the local raddiwalas.

      I have been interested in Digital Tech since its inception, primarily for what it means to humanity and individuals. I’m alarmed, even terrified with the way it’s going.

      Interesting that you brought up the Hippocratic Oath. It seems like Indian culture directly contradicts western value systems. And unfortunately we’re currently in the mess of ‘take whatever is convenient for you from whichever you like’. Doctors overprescribe and also mix unscientific things like morality into their advice. It’s easy to get medication without a prescription. People self-medicate to save money and also because there’s (understandably) little faith in western medicine. The pandemic has thrown up the very worst of all of this.

      Thank you for taking this up and continuing the conversation. I really miss the days when my blog was a way to start and engage in real thought experiments and rich conversations.

  2. Hey smithy. If you every need help , I will come and help . If I have any energy left in my body at that time :). But hey I am just a stranger….
    Unsolicited advice (If I don’t I’ll feel guilty for not having shared). As I too have undergone my whole health issues, I found doing suburban diagnostics blood test package platinum 40/50 for her really helped find levels which needed meds or vitamins. Please do it and also a usg pelvic+abdomen at least once. Did the dentist visit clear up all your symptoms? I’m curious about the hba1c levels.
    Going through similar insecurities being single all my life. I hoped to start a singles support network. But family health issues are not helping.
    Take care

    1. @XXFan: That is so nice of you!

      I know some physical health factors directly contribute to mental health but are not very visible. I have been tracking them for years myself. Doctors are still discovering how COVID may have impacted some of these. Even with the education to know to look for these, the financial ability to pay and metro city access to the top systems, I am struggling. What happens to those who have less? My post is pointing out that human wellness is coming at a price that increasingly nobody can afford. I blame capitalism.

      The western medicine model of popping a pill doesn’t exactly solve our human situations, especially in India. We also have to deal with a lot of other mental and emotional burdens because of the way our society is structure. I hope you will find your peace, nice stranger.