Therapy Doesn’t Treat Oppression

Mental illness is often a part of the human condition. According to the World Health Organization, about 970 million people suffer from mental disorders worldwide. While everyone experiences negative feelings throughout their lives, there are conditions that cause significant distress and difficulties with functioning in everyday life. Mental disorders are deemed as “abnormal” compared to the average normally functioning population. But what is abnormal and what is normal? Can we truly say that mental illness is an abnormal response to the way society, culture, politics, and the economy interacts in the world today? Considering the challenges of our modern world and the discrimination many of us face, I would argue the answer is no.

As a psychology student and someone who has been struggling with mental health issues for more than ten years, I believe that mental illnesses are treatable. Talking therapy and medication can be extremely effective and even lifesaving. However, I often wonder whether we pathologize conditions that are a natural response to the circumstances we live in. While modern medicine is becoming increasingly advanced and life expectancy is growing in Western countries, people in the 21st century are facing problems that we as humans have never dealt with before.

Perhaps the most outstanding of these is climate change, a phenomenon that is already causing irreparable environmental damage and is having devastating effects on physical health. The fear of future consequences of climate change has even led to the creation of the term “climate grief”. Moreover, the internet and social media have forever changed human life and connection. The human brain is not designed to process the inexplicably rapid spread of information that we are dealing with today. While the ability to talk to anyone at any time brought humans closer in some ways, it also divided us, as problems such as cyberbullying emerged.

As if that wasn’t enough, politics and the economy are hugely influential on people’s well-being. It is practically impossible to make a living with minimum wage, as the price of food, commodities, and rent is skyrocketing. The wealth gap between the rich and the poor is exponentially growing. Laws targeting minority groups are being passed every single day, all over the world. Fascism is on the rise in the US and several European countries. Not to mention the Covid-19 pandemic and its long-lasting consequences. All of these factors contribute massively to the poor mental health of privileged people, but they affect marginalized communities disproportionately. The uncertainty of poverty and discrimination is a major cause of stress, and chronic exposure to stress can lead to a rapid decline in mental and physical health.

When it comes to the mental health treatment of disadvantaged groups, it is important to mention that therapy is often inaccessible. Just based on how long the waiting times are for the NHS mental health services, it isn’t surprising that many people don’t even try to get help. The other option would be private healthcare, which is so expensive that working-class people could hardly ever afford it. However, the accessibility of mental health care is not the only problem. I question the effectiveness of certain types of therapy as well. Nowadays, the golden standard, the most frequently administered type of therapy is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). CBT is based on the concept that negative thoughts lead to negative feelings and behaviours, and by breaking the pattern of negative thoughts, one can cure, or at least manage symptoms of mental illnesses. While CBT can be very effective for a multitude of disorders and symptom management, I argue that it can only treat a specific group of people. Those who deal with irrational thoughts, and those whose thought patterns can be changed. For people who deal with systematic oppression and discrimination every day, the thoughts that may be the root of anxiety or depression are often rational. When someone is being persecuted for their very being, their existence, it is nearly impossible to not be anxious and depressed as a natural response to the environment. I will use myself as an example. I suffer from medical anxiety despite being perfectly physically healthy. That is an irrational fear, one that can be changed through therapy. On the other hand, my anxiety pertaining to the discrimination I face as an LBTQ+ person is rational and cannot be changed.

This is where politics and psychology intersect. Until the social and systematic liberation of marginalized groups is achieved, until steps are being taken against the disasters of climate change, until we are living in late-stage capitalism; mental illness will remain a normal response to being human.