When our oppression leads to suffering and distress, and then we choose to name it as just a chemical imbalance, we basically fracture those ties of solidarity. It prevents us from forming an analysis about our conditions that could actually lead to political transformation.

It’s also just quite a self-blaming approach—it leads people to feel quite... See more

Now it’s more prevalent than ever—people talking about they’ll only date people in therapy. Everyone’s on Headspace or other apps. Everyone’s journaling. And it’s not that these things are bad, but the emphasis is always on the individual—it’s you who has to do something about it.

It’s always awareness of symptoms and traditional psychiatric cures, not the underlying problems that are causing us to be depressed or anxious.

Within awareness narratives, we also put the onus on individuals to solve a mental health crisis. If we all just speak up individually and get help individually and break the stigma individually—and all of... See more

it’s your responsibility as an individual actor to bring your minds and behavior back in line with the demands of the state and the labor market. And that’s where we get the “reach out, speak out, break the stigma” narrative.