Death Panel Mad World w/ Micha Frazer-Carroll (Re-Air)
Jun 5, 2025
Micha Frazer-Carroll, an author and journalist known for her book 'Mad World: The Politics of Mental Health,' delves into the complexities of mental health in this discussion. She challenges traditional notions of care, advocating for a more inclusive approach beyond standard therapy. The conversation critiques capitalist influences on mental health diagnoses and treatments, emphasizing the need for peer-led support and community collaboration. Frazer-Carroll also highlights the intersection of activism and mental health, pushing for innovative, human-centered care models.
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Madness as Fluid Social Construct
- Madness is a socially constructed, complex, and unstable category shaped by historical, political, and economic contexts.
- It resists fixed definitions and rigid boundaries, reflecting diverse experiences beyond medicalization and diagnosis.
Madness Disrupts Capitalist Norms
- Madness includes behaviors disruptive to capitalist accumulation, not just mental suffering.
- This definition is intentionally leaky, highlighting arbitrariness in labeling and social control mechanisms.
Harm in Psychiatry's Certainty Quest
- Psychiatry's harmful core is its relentless quest for certainty and control over mental health.
- Both biological and social explanations can dangerously claim totalizing truths that exclude complexity.
