Folklab

(PART 2)
**CW: forced medical procedures, forced institutionalization, violence, anti-immigration sentiments, and generally triggering content concerning the history of violence in mental illness and institutionalization**

For centuries now, Western societies have been responding to vulnerable folks with lived experience of mental illness by forcibly placing them into institutions. Because people didn’t (and still don’t) understand what produces extreme states, for millennia, people who acted in strange ways or responded to the world differently, were thought to be experiencing the effects of spiritual forces such as demonic possession. In the 17th century, disturbances of mood and behavior began to be described in terms of bodily pathology which needed to be expelled. This can be rightfully described as a leap forward in one respect but this idea, that mental illness is a product of physiologic pathology, has produced centuries of suffering as we stab in the dark trying different strategies. Using this lens, which looks at the spectrum of human behavior as a binary with normal on one side and pathologic on the other, limits our ability to see the whole person. It prevents us from doing what is most important: caring for each other.

How much of this is new to you? How much did you previously think was just fiction (looking at you American Horror Story) We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments…

            

(PART 1)
**CW: forced medical procedures, forced institutionalization, violence, anti-immigration sentiments, and generally triggering content concerning the history of violence in mental illness and institutionalization**

For centuries now, Western societies have been responding to vulnerable folks with lived experience of mental illness by forcibly placing them into institutions. Because people didn’t (and still don’t) understand what produces extreme states, for millennia, people who acted in strange ways or responded to the world differently, were thought to be experiencing the effects of spiritual forces such as demonic possession. In the 17th century, disturbances of mood and behavior began to be described in terms of bodily pathology which needed to be expelled. This can be rightfully described as a leap forward in one respect but this idea, that mental illness is a product of physiologic pathology, has produced centuries of suffering as we stab in the dark trying different strategies. Using this lens, which looks at the spectrum of human behavior as a binary with normal on one side and pathologic on the other, limits our ability to see the whole person. It prevents us from doing what is most important: caring for each other.

How much of this is new to you? How much did you previously think was just fiction (looking at you American Horror Story) We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments…

            

Just because you only have five minutes doesn’t mean you can’t do something good for yourself! ⏰

[art emoji]:

[Image description: The center of the image has the words “5-minute self-care” surrounded by “write down 3 nice things about yourself”, “step outside for some fresh air”, “drink some water”, “do a short mindfulness breathing exercise”, “book the appointment you’ve been putting off”, “listen to a song that makes you smile”, “find a video of cute animals online”.]