Should mental health have a say in everything?

There is a reason certain groups of therapists, certain schools of therapy prioritize a neutrality, which often is interpreted by many as a passivity.  This isn’t to say therapists who hold strong positions are wrong. this is simply to say that therapists who might not share it explicitly aren’t wrong either. And each might have pretty good reasons for the way they practice. I thought we live in a time where we are welcoming of all things all shapes and sizes or aren’t we? 😉 Am writing this tricky piece, for i cant help but notice this trend of almost crucifying a therapist or mental health professional , (another profession I see this onslaught is the artists community), when they aren’t explicitly putting out their choices or opinions say on sexuality, politics, neurodivergence, social structures and policies etc. Recently i saw a post where an artist was unfollowed by the thousands, apparently cause she didn’t post anything on the war. Unfollowing someone cause they don’t align with your values, not that’s probably nothing, but abusing her is something. At the core, its no different behavior that when one who has power in social standing dictates what is right and wrong. One day some one is ‘IN’ in todays speak, and by tomorrow you are ‘OUT’- nothing. There is a cancel culture one cant deny.

This is just a post, just drawing out alternative reasons that might be positive in quality (fully acknowledging the negative probabilities) as to why some therapists choose not to go public about their very human opinions and choices and they keep mental health and their personal opinions separate. They are shared as responses to concerns I received and as a reply to it.

1.When Neutrality is confused for Passivity- One complaint that keeps coming up is such mhps/ therapists are passive, old school, colonial, coming from privilege etc. etc. While I agree, that might be true in some cases, for some it’s a conscious choice coming from a place of years of reflection and their experience in their practice. For those 'some', The neutrality that they try to hold is farther from passivity or positions of privilege. True neutrality not easy for starters, unlike passivity. This neutrality offers fertile ground for all things to emerge, as uncomfortable and as disgusting as it might make one feel. It makes room for those feelings to emerge as well but instead of reacting to the feelings, they take the feelings as information of the inherent trauma the individual or system faces. Once everything is out in a judgement free, non positional space, true dialogue and understanding becomes possible. A lot many times this space is the fulcrum of resolving internal splits or wars, and aids integration within the client/ couple/ family/ larger systems, in turn might actually a different kind of work that can lead to positive personal and therefore a larger social impact, just that it takes a longer more patient route. And these schools of thinking took years of observation and research to emerge and need not be shunned as completely false only cause something new is emerging.

Also what one puts on one’s social media handle is not telling in any way if they are truly pro something or not, it might be just a privacy choice they made, or maybe it comes from a more deeper engagement with these constructs. It might also be that they are passive and oppressive too.

At the same time, those who are explicitly choosing to share their positions might not be exactly ‘friendly’ either, it might be a mere marketing gimmick, or just a human defense of trying to fit in, or an acting out, yada yada yada. All I am saying is ,

overt behaviors aren’t good enough predictors of intent, and to draw such extreme conclusions is the exact recipe for further divide.

What is wise then, is not a complete rejection of the past models, but integrating what is good in both the old and new, discarding that which isn’t.

2. Man made systems have inherent flaws- Another thing I wanted to bring up any system is prone to inherent flaws and mental health is a system as well and each person should take time to reflect fads/ trends. For example let’s take something that was considered extreme in the past, that even mental health had a position on as a disorder but is today taking the internet by storm. Being neurodivergent, or being kink for eg. Suddenly the very same body who had theories and evidence stating otherwise, today suddenly is ‘friendly’. One can view it as an expansion or openness or one can even attribute a sheer hypocrisy to this shifting of attitudes with shifts in culture.

What troubles me the most though is that these days, its almost becoming a mandate to list out your positions. Am supposed to apparently state explicitly on my handle or on my posts- if I am ‘kink friendly’, if I am political - which party, or which country do I support in the war, if I am queer friendly etc.  This reminds me of something, and am treading on dangerous waters, hopefully people see through the intent. In the yester years one had to explicitly bear the marking of ones caste, religion or race in their name, profession etc. Today we are quick to judge caste / religion as social evils, when in fact initially they started out as systems set to ensure smooth social processes. like i said this statement is so dangerous, i can feel the stones thrown at me. Am not denying the demon it took form , in fact what am trying to do is the opposite, am trying to draw attention to the potential that any system (old/ new) can be construed, by well- human beings. All systems are formed by people for something, then are corrupted by people, and its best if we take responsibility, if we stay open, and truly listen, the system remains a tool, than to swing mindlessly between 2 extremes. Humans have this pride we invented something new and invincible this time, only for mindless cycles repeat for eons. Owning our inherent good (and) bad, and staying open to the essence , the truth of experience in the here and now, might bear more fruit.

3. On the question of personal and social responsibility and what power is, and how power is handled- The other complaint I constantly receive is that if you’re not positional you’re not a real mental health professional (mhp) for mhps are supposed to play active roles and are agents of change in society. While some can and should choose such roles that are right at the intersection (mental health and social policy for eg) for it can be personally meaningful for them and/or create positive social change, all am saying it isn’t a should or a necessity to be a good enough mhp/ therapist. When did it become that mental health have to become positional about everything – from religion, to culture to politics, sexuality? Suddenly mental health seems to have become the final decision maker, almost becoming dictatorial even. that’s ascribing too much power to a system, and eventually just like every system that had absolute power, this power had potential to corrupt it.

Mental health is influenced and vice versa Mental health influences all systems by default , there are spaces where it meets, at the same time there are spaces where they don’t meet, and doesn’t have to.

While it’s important to hold positions and have a stance as a person, it’s equally important to remember that when one becomes positional wrt anything, we are also losing out on a richness of what happens in between. And a certain perspective almost always gets lost. When a particular body, or group starts holding stances it can get dangerous. What starts as a movement to stop oppressive systems, becomes the new oppressor. You’re not right winged, you’re not a good enough therapist, you’re not pro something you’re not a good enough therapist. When did this trend emerge?  I think it’s important to reflect on this. this might seem repetitive, but i still am going ahead and repeating it cause its important this message gets through- the system is built by humans therefore is prone to human limitations, but we can put certain safety checks to ensure it doesn’t lead to useless loops, but awareness takes over and we can go past just mindless repetitions of a different kind. As subtle as it seems today, this is how new extremes emerge, with no room for true authentic expression and experiencing. If in the past therapists chose being positional based on what they felt right or wrong either personally or culturally , clients would not even have the space to embrace or explore for eg what their kink is about, or their murderous rage. I mean it used to be considered wrong right? Today I have young clients coming in wanting to be a particular ‘identity’ when they aren’t, just cause all their friends are and oh the distress.. The need to fit in , can be poisonous.

If someone hasn’t gotten it yet, doesn’t the pressure to hold a  position have oppressive undercurrents to it? The pressure to pick a side is as oppressive, is eerily similar to how people justify wars, and crimes in the long run. While, many are fighting for justice, and it is indeed important, let it not blind one.

And closing this, this is just a perspective and as right as it can sound it is equally wrong, and all I am saying is that’s alright. Let us be and let us let others be.

#depression #Therapy #mentalhealth #Awareness #anxiety #stigma #therapist