[ziggus]

This article does a decent job of summarizing some of the issues that face the mentally ill and pointing out that psychiatry without strong community support is almost useless.

However, it's really just a subtle ad for a book, which probably just reiterates the same points in greater detail via lots of anecdotal data and case histories, points the finger at the government for not spending more money on programs designed to support the mentally ill within their communities, and doesn't provide any further concrete solutions.

Hasn't this same book been written over and over again?

[crawfordcomeaux]

I agree with this perspective. Absent from this article is the recognition that the absence of all these things is rooted in American culture that is inherently uncaring, eg. Hyperindependence instead of interdependence, puritanical moralizing instead of compassionate listening, scientific certainty instead of intellectual curiosity, silent/vocal denials and blame-shifting instead of acknowledgment, engagement, accountability, and responsibility. Oh, and financial anxiety and racism. Where are the leaders talking about how they got over their financial anxiety (instead of patching/feeding it with more money) or how they're renouncing whiteness? White-body supremacy started with the lie that there are white bodies, yet even social justice warriors will try to shame me into keeping it going, instead of acknowledging people who think they're white need to stop practicing the lie if they want to get anywhere past the racism of the day. We can use white privilege to help those who don't pass for white while refusing to base our identities on literal lies.

I also see these things as endemic to academia, especially in the sciences, and regard them as roots of our current replication crises, alongside capitalistic pressures.