“Putting Your Mental Health First” Is It Possible?
Many people are currently going through a lot mentally, and as much as we’re all singing the “remember to put your mental health first” movement, which got me thinking about this idea of capitalist realism.
Putting your mental health first has been a theme for the past 7 years or so, but the question is, is it even possible to prioritize your mental health with the current capitalism?
What if putting your mental health first means that you need to take a whole year off your work? Can majority of us even afford that?
Many people can’t even afford to feed themselves, so I find the phrase to “put your mental health first” to be at odds with the very system that we live in.
The Capitalist Realism
Capitalist realism is basically the idea that capitalism is not only the predominant economic system, but people also believe that no other economic system can work.
In fact, more people envision the end of humanity than they can imagine the end of capitalism — yes, that’s how bad it is unfortunately.
Capitalism Vs. Mental Health
It’s ironic that at the very time when I need to focus on my mental health, I still feel some king of pressure to work extra hard. And that pressure is just to churn the economic system underlining everything, which is essentially capitalism.
Think about this; with capitalism, it’s likely that the only people that can benefit from the phrase “put your mental health first” are the people who have the money to do it.
I’m so much interested in understanding the link between capitalist realism and mental health issues in the world right now. I was scrolling through the CDC reports and they say that over 40 Americans show signs of being either depressed or anxious right now.
When you think about the numbers, that’s quite a lot of people actually. I think it’s now at the point where mental health is now a systemic problem rather than an individual problem.
If you dive into more research, it basically shows that the lower your socio-economic status is, the more likely you’re to experience mental health problems. And I understand that correlation is not causation, but also numbers don’t lie.
That aside, what’s been bugging me the most in terms of this whole discussion or argument is the fact that everyone says that you need to go to therapy and you need to figure out your mental health if you’re having problems.
Now it’s like we’re trying to look for this individualistic solution to a more systemic problem, and honestly, I don’t understand how that’s supposed to work. But then, it’s also not a surprise because we do this in many other realms or situations.
For example, we pump a lot of junk food into our system and at the same time try to get fit too. Like we’ll promote all the junk foods and also promote dieting and gym work outs, and if you ask me. To me, this is not really an individual problem but rather a systemic issue, and obviously mental health and capitalism is just one of them.
It’s almost like we’re being put on fire, then we’re told to not feel hurt. We then have to learn how we can control our mind. While it’s true we can learn how to cope or control our minds not to get hurt, but it’s also like, you don’t have to set us on fire in the first place.
My Take…
Basically, this is what I think about a lot when I going through mental health issues, and I hear people say “put your mental health first.” We don’t even provide a system where people can actually prioritize their mental health without feeling the pressure to need to show up for their work or jobs.
So, when I think about solving stress in my life, it’s more like a two-prong solution, if that makes sense. Like first, I need to learn how I can control this thing, but second, I also think that we should be looking for a way to dismantle, restructure, or reorganize the systems that put this pressure on us in the first place. Something like a social safety net that will help us out.
And lastly, I also know that there are people who will probably say that nothing should be one way or should be another way. And as much as I agree, and understand that we’re not owed anything in this world, I also think we all like to strive towards a society that is more fair and just enjoyable for all of us.
