It's Not Just In Your Head

Harriet and Max talk with Pete Bourgelais about mental health in rural America, with emphasis on Maine because that's where Pete is from (and is running for office to push for a Green New Deal, support for local organic farmers, and public broadband). Harriet emphasizes connectivity as central to mental health, and explores with Pete questions about how people in small towns connect with each other. Pete walks us through the economic history of Maine, as having depended on manufacturing which was outsourced first to the American South then eventually, mostly, to China. Lack of jobs, an aging population, and lack of services those of us in cities typically take for granted, creates unique challenges for rural Americans. Max asks Pete about whether "hick" and "redneck" stereotypes have an impact on rural people, and whether or not it's a myth that white rural Americans are "more racist" than other white Americans.

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Rural America Reimagined

https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/rural-america-reimagined

Maine is the hardest-drinking state in New England:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/03/08/these-americas-drunkest-states/406342002/

‘This will be catastrophic’: Maine families face elder boom, worker shortage in preview of nation’s future

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/this-will-be-catastrophic-maine-families-face-elder-boom-worker-shortage-in-preview-of-nations-future/2019/08/14/7cecafc6-bec1-11e9-b873-63ace636af08_story.html?arc404=true

White poverty exists, ignored (from 2014, a little dated in places)

https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article2518087.html

Black Lives Matter protest in Kingfield (population 997) peaceful

https://www.theirregular.com/articles/black-lives-matter-protest-in-kingfield-peaceful/

Hollowed Out: Against the Sham Revitalization of Appalachia

https://thebaffler.com/salvos/hollowed-out-ray

ATTENTION! This is a Boring Dystopia/Obligatory 'don't sue us' message:  This podcast provides numerous different perspectives and criticisms of  the mental health space, however, it should not be considered medical  advice. Please consult your medical professional with regards to any  health decisions or management.

In this solo episode, Harriet talks about the many ways people are being impacted emotionally by the current pandemic. Men in particular having a hard time asking for help and being vulnerable, resulting in more substance abuse and expressions of anger. Harriet points out that single men are afflicted with dangerous levels of loneliness more, resorting to buying testosterone supplements and penis enlargement pills, and stocking up on guns. The month of May saw the highest record of mass shootings this year, a fact buried by news about the current pandemic. Harriet highlights how single women are being impacted differently in that there tend to be more severe economic burdens on single women, and especially single mothers. Children are being abused and neglected at higher rates during the pandemic due to increased stress by unemployed parents. We hope anyone who is struggling more than usual understands they're not alone, and that everyone's mental health is being pushed to the limit. Please reach out and try to connect with others to commiserate as much as you can!

Support us by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead

ATTENTION! This is a Boring Dystopia/Obligatory 'don't sue us' message:  This podcast provides numerous different perspectives and criticisms of  the mental health space, however, it should not be considered medical  advice. Please consult your medical professional with regards to any  health decisions or management.

In this episode we cover both "macro" and "micro" points of discussion about race and racism. Harriet starts off with explaining how capitalism has always required a set of social divisions to pit workers against each other to prevent them from uniting against common oppressors. Max shares the example of how the Bacon's Rebellion of 1676 - white and black servants uniting together to burn down the plantation - resulted in the plantation/ownership class inventing race and codifying it into centuries of law to slightly improve conditions for 'the white race' at the structural expense of 'the black race,' so the former would unite 'as a race' against the latter to maintain materially superior conditions. Harriet reminds us that MLK advocated for multi-racial labor solidarity through unions, and how the unprecedented uprisings of the last month as a reaction to George Floyd's murder by police may be a sign of growing multi-racial, working class solidarity. Max explains the "micro" pieces of racism with attention to stereotypes, prejudices, and microaggressions, then provides an overview of a powerpoint lecture called "Black Minds Matter" by Dr. Luke Wood. (Max failed to read the last slide which had proposed policy solutions like getting rid of school suspensions and integration of restorative justice programs, and more - see below).

Support us by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead

ATTENTION! This is a Boring Dystopia/Obligatory 'don't sue us' message:  This podcast provides numerous different perspectives and criticisms of  the mental health space, however, it should not be considered medical  advice. Please consult your medical professional with regards to any  health decisions or management.

Sorry for the long gap between episodes! We respond to some fanmail and Anchor messages covering topics such as: how we developed our views based on our backgrounds; thoughts on borderline personality disorder; food/diet and mental health; Gloria Steinem and her CIA ties. Near the end, we talk about an exciting mental health activism model called the Liberation Health Model which came out of Boston and appears to be spreading (see the article below). If anyone has ideas on what kinds of rewards we should include within our upcoming Patreon page, let us know. Send any feedback you have to [email protected].

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https://shelterforce.org/2017/11/22/how-organizing-for-justice-helps-your-mental-health/

Support us by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead

ATTENTION! This is a Boring Dystopia/Obligatory 'don't sue us' message:  This podcast provides numerous different perspectives and criticisms of  the mental health space, however, it should not be considered medical  advice. Please consult your medical professional with regards to any  health decisions or management.

Max and Harriet lay out their critique of #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth by first speaking on its origins - a big pharma funded nonprofit called Mental Health America, beginning in 1949 - then explain how the rise of the nonprofit industrial complex helped to pacify, depoliticize, and professionalize social movements to the detriment of the working class. Both counselors agree that while the 100-200k salaries paid out to Mental Health America nonprofit executives are not necessarily excessive, it would make more sense for them to advocate for ALL workers to make that wage in service of solving the mental health crisis. Max draws on parallel processes brought on from the neoliberal era (Reagan to now) : wealth for the 1% went up higher than ever due to lowered tax rates, deregulation, outsourcing; public sector funding was cut and so needs for public services became highest in decades; capitalists seized the decimation of public/democratic control of capital by promoting charity with strings attached as the solution; many nonprofits formed and found niche markets of 'helping,' and began competing with each other like small capitalist firms; worker productivity rose 70% due to higher expectations, weaker unions, and technological advancements but wages stagnated so managers, executives and shareholders could make more money; working class wealth transferred to the 1% and, in small portions, redistributed into nonprofits such as Mental Health America, so that radical demands for structural changes to society were replaced with "awareness raising activities." Subsequently, mental health problems have worsened over this period and we're typically told that the solution is either take medication, correct our negative thinking, or do better self care. We offer systems level suggestions on how to solve the mental health crisis, including a Green New Deal, stronger unions, adopting something similar to Italy's Marcora Law to grow worker cooperatives, and for listeners to get as engaged in fighting for these solutions as possible. Near the end, we read some fanmail and respond to it. We'll be fixing our audio quality issues soon, thanks for listening!

Support us by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead

ATTENTION! This is a Boring Dystopia/Obligatory 'don't sue us' message:  This podcast provides numerous different perspectives and criticisms of  the mental health space, however, it should not be considered medical  advice. Please consult your medical professional with regards to any  health decisions or management.

In the first half of this episode, Harriet lays out a thesis on four depressions in the United States. 1) Depression of wages and employment in the late 1970s caused by outsourcing and automation of mainly male jobs, causing severe economic and family systems consequences; 2) Depression of the American family resulting from the economic crisis, including a dramatic spikes in male violence, substance abuse, divorce rates (all carried on to now), and the majority of children now living with single-mothers; 3) The current economic depression felt by tens of millions of Americans from the pandemic; 4) Depression of mental health conditions for Americans due to economic instability, lack of competent government leadership, and lack of care infrastructure due to pro-business and anti-government shifts which started in the 1970s but never ended.

Support us by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead

ATTENTION! This is a Boring Dystopia/Obligatory 'don't sue us' message:  This podcast provides numerous different perspectives and criticisms of  the mental health space, however, it should not be considered medical  advice. Please consult your medical professional with regards to any  health decisions or management.

[Disclaimer: Harriet and Max are pro-meditation, pro-yoga, and pro- self-care! And want listeners to think about these practices within a broader sociopolitical context.]

A History of Self-Care: From its radical roots to its yuppie-driven middle age to its election-inspired resurgence, Aisha Harris

Remembering the Origins of the Self-Care Movement, Sarah Boyle

‘Self-care’: how a radical feminist idea was stripped of politics for  the mass market, André Spicer

McMindfulness: How Mindfulness Became the New Capitalist Spirituality, Ronald Purser

Extreme Makeover: Yoga in the British Empire from Decolonizing Yoga, Melissa Heather

Meditation background music in this episode by Dmitriy Samoylenko - Old Forms Must Die.

Email us questions, comments, criticisms at [email protected]. 

Support us by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead

ATTENTION! This is a Boring Dystopia/Obligatory 'don't sue us' message:  This podcast provides numerous different perspectives and criticisms of  the mental health space, however, it should not be considered medical  advice. Please consult your medical professional with regards to any  health decisions or management.

Recorded on May 1, International Worker's Day, mental health counselors Harriet and Max talk about the many ways covid-19 is impacting our collective mental health with emphasis on class disparities and the US proving itself to be a failed state. Bill Gates bought a $43 million dollar mansion near the US-Mexico border while undocumented workers aren't getting stimulus checks despite being the backbone of the economy. The working class rent strikes again, but who killed militant unionism in the US for the last 50 years? Everyone's even more anxious and depressed than usual -- it's not just in your head!

Support us by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead

ATTENTION! This is a Boring Dystopia/Obligatory 'don't sue us' message:  This podcast provides numerous different perspectives and criticisms of  the mental health space, however, it should not be considered medical  advice. Please consult your medical professional with regards to any  health decisions or management.

Max and Harriet introduce themselves, how they met and why they're  starting the podcast with hopes of reaching other mental health  practitioners, consumers of mental health services, and whoever else  will listen. Harriet explains the mental health industrial complex  involving four co-conspirators. Both emphasize the systemic nature of  the problem so as not to blame any one or another individual involved.  Max critiques the main text used to define mental disorders (DSM-5) and  emphasizes that our conception of mental illness today is a product of  historical, cultural, socioeconomic, and political factors.

Support us by becoming a Patron at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead

ATTENTION! This is a Boring Dystopia/Obligatory 'don't sue us' message:  This podcast provides numerous different perspectives and criticisms of  the mental health space, however, it should not be considered medical  advice. Please consult your medical professional with regards to any  health decisions or management.