NEXUS
MARAMARA MARAMARA KŌRERO KŌRERO / 专栏 / 专栏
Whelmed Fight the Normal by Rachael Elliott
Dave Snell
The smarter you are the more likely you are to struggle with your mental health. I dunno whether that makes y’all more or less likely Today a psychologist me You thatdid dressing to hit the skids to be told honest. make strange wasbuta then symptom of a ‘schizoid’ it into uni, you actually chose to personality. come here when higher education is the biggest money-making scam the boomers When I was at University, I had a mohawk managed since the housing crisis so… Jury’sa foot out. tall, jeans that were so torn you could clearly see my undies, and I walked around with no stats shoes.from At athe friend’s wedding, the Recent NZ Health survey bridal party wore Chucks. At my father in reported that women aged 15-24 were law’s funeral, there were hippy vests experiencing anxiety andmore depression at and velvet than the at asame Grateful double the dresses rate of men age,Dead and concert. Māori youth are 1.5 times more likely to have a diagnosis of anxiety disorder than Are we schizophrenics? Possibly. gender But it non-Māori. Our trans, non-binary, brought metakatāpui in a roundabout thinking queer, and whānauway are to even more about what issonormal we target marginalised, they’reand evenhow deeper in the those hole. who don’t conform as being abnormal or ill. Some psychology will tell you that this needtry to and dresstelldifferently is histrionic. So don’t me that there isn’t a The unhealthy need to be the centre of societally constructed, gender specific, attention. Sadly, this to type psychology kyriarchal component our of mental health will youeffect women need more attention crisis.tellThe of gender-roles and the and are more histrionic I keep negative experiences of than thesemen. throughout wanting call it traditional psychology, but your life,tooften starting before you even it’s still very much alive. That’s why you lot realise what is happening, is a very large show your ankles This brand of and specific risk everywhere. factor for mental illness. psychology creates Not to mention theour factrape thatmyths. we’re usually left literally holding the baby (or the sibling, or parent or grandparent). Despite being the gold fucking standard of humanity, wom*n (yes, all wom*n, 16 N.08 / V. 55
inclusive) are being thrown under the fucking bus. In every country from which data is available, in every racial, ethnic, and What are normal Are trendperiod: setters age group, fromchanges? every historical schizophrenic? Musk is definitely a lizard we have lowerElon arrest rates than men for person. early adopters schizophrenic? all crimeArecategories except prostitution These don’t normal. (whichpeople shouldn’t bedoa what crime,is sex workWe is celebrate them. We institutionalise work). Several peer-reviewed studiesothers over just one else have copiesshown them. that the because last fewnodecades wom*n outperform men in many of the A psychologist youforin good a book, and next key areas thatputs make leadership: minute, being gay kindness, is illegal. Being normal self-awareness, self-control, also depends where are.sensitivity. I thought humility, socialonskills, andyou moral I’d pushmen the outperform envelope anduswent to a metal While in unprovoked bar in a white shirt. I was at a metal bar aggression, psychopathy, narcissism, greed, in and of a group of “entrepreneurs” andLondon the kinds Machiavellian tendencies (i.e. degree students) that unemployed create thingsbusiness like white collar crime, wanted to come in wearing suits. mishandling of a global pandemic and The the bouncer “sorry lads, there’s And a dress need for said the #metoo movement. yet code in this they’re still establishment.” in charge. And Almost you stillspat ask my us whiskey out atfeminism. that one. Imagine what the why we need indigenous people of Borneo would make of aAnyway, tie. A small flap ofWhy fabric meansmore you I digress. arethat wom*n should listenedwith to. their mental health likely tobestruggle than men? MaYBE iT’s ThEiR HoRMoNEs? Imagine if we court ordered Are wom*n more likely to be people anxious with and ties to see a shrink because they are depressed because we do all the emotional schizophrenic. It's not coincidence labour or because mena aren’t allowedthat to these same people often have feelings? Eitherare way youthe canwhite thankguys the with moneyand either. patriarchy, the solution is feminism. 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 still get paid less Those withfor power who isNothing normal than men doingdetermine the same work. and who isunappreciated not. History may be written by like feeling to make you want the victor, but all theday. present is written (usually to stay in bed on a prescription pad or a legal document) by the powerful. I haven’t Maybe it’s because we’ve even beenmentioned taught 10 yet that the labels use, like ‘schizoid’, are different ways not we to be raped but boys still also ways wetold hurtnot those who haven’t been to rape us?don’t That meet deep “normal” criteria. down, some men think they’re entitled to our smiles, our time, and our bodies, even All of this why when we is say no.being ‘normal’ is dangerous. Never be normal. Let your freak flag fly. Maybe we’re all fucked up because we’re Take morecare. likely to experience mental and physical violence and abuse than men, and trauma is directly linked to the development " What are normal of anxiety, depression, and a host of other mental illnesses. changes? Are trend
setters Maybe, until weschizophrenic? sort that out, wom*n are going to struggle with their mental Elon Muskmore is definitely a health than men.
lizard person. Are early If you want to help? Call out your friend’s adopters schizophrenic? shitty misogynistic jokes. Even just saying people dofind it thatThese you don’t get it, ordon’t you don’t funnythat one small awkward moment is what is normal. " 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.
