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Whelmed The Gambler by Rachael Elliott
Dave Snell
The smarter you are the more likely you are to struggle with your mental health. I dunno whether thatsong makes more orI less likely I hate the They’all Gambler. used to to hit the skids to be honest. You did make regularly play poker in bars and they would it intothis uni,rubbish but thensong you every actuallynight. choseMy to play come here when higher education is the dislike for the Rogers is not the subject of biggest money-making scam into the the boomers this column, but leads nicely topic managed since the housing crisis so… of Picking Your Battles. I guess this is Jury’s what out. The Gambler song is about, so I must’ve
retained something while I was losing all my Recent chips. stats from the NZ Health survey reported that women aged 15-24 were experiencing anxiety and depression at Picking your battles is hard. double the rate of men the same age, and Māori youth are 1.5when timesallmore to It’s particularly hard of lifelikely seems have diagnosis of moment. anxiety disorder to be aa battle at the Dealing than with non-Māori. Ourrisk trans, non-binary, COVID or the of COVID, the gender war in queer, and takatāpui whānau are even more Ukraine (it’s a war, not a special operation), marginalised, so they’re even deeperJordan in the power companies, climate change, hole. Peterson, some guy on Facebook who
thinks Joe Rogan has some valid points, So try and tell me that there stuffdon’t at work, animals needing to go isn’t to thea societally constructed, gender specific, vet, whether this guy on this quiz show is kyriarchal component to our mental health wearing a toupee or not…. crisis. The effect of gender-roles and the negative experiences throughout But I digress. There isof athese lot going on at your life, often starting before you even the moment. When you are stressed, you realise what most is happening, a very large are at your vulnerableis to emotions. and riskthey factor Hyperspecific vigilance callfor it, mental which isillness. fancy Not to mention the fact that usually psycho-babble for stay the we’re fuck out of left holding the babylike (or the sibling, my literally way. Everything seems a personal or parent or grandparent). Despite being the gold fucking standard of humanity, wom*n (yes, all wom*n,
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inclusive) are being thrown under the fucking bus. In every country from which data is available, everyfrom racial,anyone ethnic, else and attack, every oddin look age group, from every historical period: appears to be a personal attack, and what we arrest rates thanBeing menable for the have hell islower that goddamn noise? all crime categories except prostitution to recognise when this is happening, try (which shouldn’t a crime, sex work is to distract or findbesomething to manage work). Several peer-reviewed studies over emotions, and taking stock of what is going the lastbe few decades on can a massive help.have shown that wom*n outperform men in many of the key areas that Something I likemake to tryfor firstgood is a leadership: body scan. self-awareness, kindness, self-control, I think of Robocop, imagining some sort of humility, social my skills, andand moral sensitivity. laser scanning body trying to see While men outperform unprovoked whether there is tension us andinwhereabouts aggression, psychopathy, narcissism, greed, it is. and the kinds of Machiavellian tendencies that create things like white collar crime, Usually, it’s my jaw clenching. mishandling of a global pandemic and the need for the #metoo movement. to Andrelax yet That can provide opportunities they’re still in charge. And you still ask us in specific areas and try and feel better. why we need feminism. Perspective taking also helps. Will you
be this pissed off tomorrow about this Anyway, Whycosare more misguidedI digress. metal head hewom*n thinks Tool is likely to struggle with their mental health the greatest band in the world? If not, this than MaYBE iT’s worth ThEiR HoRMoNEs? mightmen? not be a battle fighting. If it is Are wom*n more likely to beitanxious a battle worth fighting, does need toand be depressed because we do all the emotional fought face to face? labour or because men aren’t allowed to have feelings? waya you can thank Sometimes justEither having good old rantthe by patriarchy, and the solution is feminism. becoming a Nexus columnist or boring a work colleague to tears might help get it all Perhaps we’re anxious and depressed because we’ve been sexualised since we were children? Nothing like never being sure if you can trust a person to keep you
on your toes. Perhaps it’s because we steam. still getIf,paid out. Venting can release afterless all than men for doing the same work. Nothing that, it is still a battle worth fighting, fight it. like feeling unappreciated It may be your mind’s way to of make tellingyou youwant that to stay in bed all day. this is an injustice that is worth addressing. Maybe because taughtyou 10 In that it’s case, fight itwe’ve with been everything different ways not tobebedamned. raped but boys still have. Kenny Rogers haven’t been told not to rape us? That deep down, some men think they’re entitled to Take care. our smiles, our time, and our bodies, even when we say no. Maybe we’re all fucked up because we’re " Venting release more likely to can experience mental and physical violence and abuse than men, and steam. If, after all that, trauma is directly linked to the development is still a battle ofitanxiety, depression, and aworth host of other mental illnesses. fighting, fight it. It may
be your mind’s of are Maybe, until we sort thatway out, wom*n going to struggle more with their telling you that this mental health than men. is an injustice that is If worth you want addressing. to help? Call out your " friend’s
shitty misogynistic jokes. Even just saying that you don’t get it, or you don’t find it funny- that one small awkward moment is worth something huge. Because suddenly, the 1 in 4 women in the room that have been sexually assaulted? Feel just a tiny bit safer. And that’s a tiny step in the right direction.
