It's Not Just In Your Head

Kristen Ghodsee joins us to talk about sex and sexuality across the varied socialist experiments that took place for most of the 20th century in Eastern Europe. She acknowledges the well-known atrocities (purges, famines, secret police, gulags) - but cautions listeners to understand that  "heavy handed state socialism" was not the only form of socialism from 1917 to 1991 across Eastern Europe. Based on decades of ethnographic research, Ghodsee argues that despite some of the failures of socialist experiments (state socialism, goulash communism, market- and "self management" socialism, and many more), women consistently self-report having enjoyed sexual relationships more than women self-report in capitalist countries. We plan to invite Ghodsee back at another time in the Spring, so send any questions you have for her to itsnotjustinyourhead@gmail.com. Support our podcast and get early access to episodes and bonus content, access to a discord chat with other supporters and the hosts, at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead. You can get Ghodsee's book "Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence" anywhere books are sold.   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 take a deeper dive into the origins and psychological and international implications of the existence and widespread use of the DSM - Diagnostic Statistical Manual - which is the bible of mental disorders used by psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers and psychotherapists. When you seek therapy through either public or  private insurance, you must be diagnosed with something from the DSM for insurance to pay for services. Psychiatrists prescribe medication as treatment based on diagnoses within the DSM. Where did this model of understanding human suffering come from? Why are biological/individual explanations for mental, emotional, and behavioral phenomena dominant in the field of mental health? How much do culture, politics, economics, and power influence our conceptualization of mental health within the USA and around the world? Does imperialism find ways to use the DSM its adjacent industries as an instrument of "soft power" to maintain and spread US cultural  hegemony? What are your thoughts on the DSM and "mental disorder" concept generally? Email us at itsnotjustinyourhead@gmail.com for feedback and criticism. Support our podcast and get early access to episodes and extra perks at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead. References: -Nobody's Normal: How Culture Created the Stigma of Mental Illness, Roy R. Grinker Sr. -Wiki page on the DSM-5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSM-5 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.

Tati Cosper contacted us to raise awareness about the connections between hunger, poverty and mental health in America - so we did an episode on it with her! Why are people malnourished in the richest country on Earth? How is it that people can work a full time job or multiple jobs, and not be able to feed their children? We explore stats such as "school-aged children who face severe hunger are 56.2% more likely to have PTSD and 53.1% more likely to have severe depression," and question how it is that 40% of food gets thrown in the trash in America. Is capitalism the best economic system for the production and distribution of food for children and working families? Contact Tati at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tatiana-cosper-44138914a/ and support a project she's involved in called the Urban Indigenous Collective here: https://urbanindigenouscollective.org/donate Resources: -Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill https://www.nrdc.org/resources/wasted-how-america-losing-40-percent-its-food-farm-fork-landfill Why are people malnourished in the richest country on Earth? https://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/hunger/ 3 Devastating Effects of Hunger on the Body https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-blog/3-ways-hunger-affects-your-body To be thin but not healthy - The body-image dilemma may affect health among female university students in China https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0205282 Weight status and body image perceptions in adolescents: current perspectives https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4554432/ Food Security Status of U.S. Households with Children in 2019 https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx#children Food Insecurity and Bulimia Nervosa in the United States https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6555671/ As Thanksgiving Approaches, Fewer Than Half of Households With Kids Very Confident About Affording Needed Food https://www.cbpp.org/blog/as-thanksgiving-approaches-fewer-than-half-of-households-with-kids-very-confident-about 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 has been wanting to explore this for a while and Harriet gave him permission to do this as a solo episode - but it's not really an episode. It's an actual mindfulness meditation. Max would like listeners to try using this meditation as they would any guided recording (relaxed sitting or laying position, eyes closed) and to give him feedback on the experience.  This is a sample of what could be developed into a guided meditation series that blends traditional mindfulness (increasing focus, relaxation, compassion) and political education.   Email us at itsnotjustinyourhead@gmail.com. Support our podcast 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, Harriet and Max offer different interpretations of the Capitol Hill riots and what caused them from both a personal psychological perspective as well as from a more "zoomed out" view that takes history and broader factors into account. Harriet gives an overview of the last several decades and how the decline of value of the "white male wage" due to both neoliberal austerity policies (deindustrialization, outsourcing, automation) and capitalist divide and conquer strategies have played a role in creating the conditions of the right-wing movement we see today. Max shares his views on how the rise of extremely sophisticated psychological influence operations "on the battlefield of social media" explain some of the technical mechanisms that has amplified, spread, and strengthened the far right.    Readings: The Psychology and Strategy of Fake News by Joohn Choe https://joohnchoe.medium.com/the-resistance-information-warfare-handbook-part-v-3f1f3b4a51b8 Commanding The Trend: Social media as information warfare by Lt. Col. Jarred Prier, U.S. Air Force https://perconcordiam.com/commanding-the-trend/   Contact us itsnotjustinyourhead@gmail.com Support us 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.

We spoke to one of our supporters and comrades, fellow mental health and social worker Eric Piece about the intersections of LGBT issues and capitalism. Eric identifies as a gay man and just as strongly as a union member and socialist. He highlighted the ways labor unions have always offered stronger protections for the LGBT community, and some of the pitfalls of thinking of LGBT people first as people with sexual orientations and gender identities as opposed to people with material, class interests first. How did Pride get co-opted and commodified? Why are white gay men painted as gentrifiers in diverse urban environments? Did Reagan use the AIDS crisis of the 1980s to divide and conquer the working class? All of this and more in this episode. Contact us at itsnotjustinyourhead@gmail.com. Support this podcast at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead and get behind the scenes content and other perks. 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.

Millions of tenants are at risk of being thrown out onto the street this year due to the covid-19 eviction moratoria being lifted federally and throughout different states and regions. The mental health field is ill-equipped to conceptualize any way to treat such widespread and looming trauma, and the world of tenant organizing might have something to teach us. Could it be possible that building solidarity through tenant organizing within buildings, across buildings, throughout neighborhoods, can prevent trauma and increase social bonds? In speaking with Talia Smith, tenant organizer with Omaha Tenants United and Autonomous Tenants Union Network, we came to think that tenant organizing could very well be a modality of healing just as much as psychotherapy can be. Talia explains what might motivate ordinary people to show up to confront police to stop fellow tenants from being evicted, and what can help overcome fear and social anxiety when asking neighbors to sign a demand letter and mail it to a landlord. What collective courage is necessary to go on a rent strike? What internal psychological mechanisms are at play that can transform neighbors from complete strangers who are suspicious and distrustful of one another, to comrades and friends who dedicate their lives to fighting for each other? Email us with your reactions to this episode at itsnotjustinyourhead@gmail.com. Support our podcast at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead to get access to early releases of full episodes and other patron-only perks. Tenants United Podcast: https://tenantsunitedpodcast.buzzsprout.com Omaha Tenants United:  https://omahatenantsunited.org Autonomous Tenants Union Network:  https://atun-rsia.org 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.

Here is a crossover episode we did with the hosts of Social Medicine On Air, a podcast very similar to our own but run by two physicians. Listen to the original episode here and be sure to check out their other episodes, all of which are extremely important fascinating! https://anchor.fm/social-medicine-on-air/episodes/14--Mental-Health--Individualism--and-the-Economy--Its-Not-Just-In-Your-Head-eo8ieq "Welcome  to Social Medicine On Air, a podcast where we explore the field of  social medicine with healthcare practitioners, activists, and  researchers. Social medicine hopes to work for a world of justice and  health - especially for the most marginalized - and connects clinical  care to the deeper causes of health and illness. Through our  conversational interviews, we hope to create a warm and welcoming space  to learn about social medicine and meet the amazing people you'll find  there. Hosted by Brendan Johnson and Jonas Attilus, produced by Raghav Goyal, and with design by Clara Brand. Harriet and Max, hosts of the "It's Not  Just In Your Head" podcast, join us today to discuss mental health, how  capitalism accelerates inequality and social breakdown, and how most  approaches to mental health care support neoliberal individualism. They  explain the connection between personal and social liberation, our need  for one another, the value and pitfalls of medication-based approaches,  the need for a strong labor movement and organizing, and how mental  health is inextricably bound to social conditions. "It's Not Just In Your Head" is a podcast  with Harriet Fraad (@harrietfraad) and Max Golding, two mental health  professionals who explore how our capitalist economic system impacts our  emotional lives, from precarious housing and employment, to  unaffordable healthcare, to endless debt -- it's not just  in your head!  Dr. Harriet Fraad is a mental health counselor and activist in New York  City with over 45 years of experience, who writes and speaks on the  intersection of politics, economics, and personal life; her work can be  found at harrietfraad.com. Max Golding is a licenced marriage and family  therapist from California who is interested in tenant and labor  organizing, and connecting the struggle for mental health with other  struggles for justice and liberation. Their recommended resources: Mark Fisher. (2009). Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Winchester, UK: Zero Books. Capitalism Hits Home (podcast) with Dr. Harriet Fraad & Julianna Forlano, link Kate Pickett & Wilkinson, Richard. (2010). The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone. London: Penguin Books." 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.

Ecological Engineering Phd student Sam Francis joins us for this episode to talk about climate anxiety: the very real and "not just in your head" problem of millions of people fearing the onslaught of terror caused by climate change. Should we all just try our best to recycle, eat less meat and, if we can afford it, buy electric cars? Harriet and Sam explore whether a "central planning" government approach is the only way out while Max spirals into a depressive stupor and wonders if his therapist would understand. We would love listener feedback on this and any other episode. Contact us at: itsnotjustinyourhead@gmail.com. Support us at: Patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead. To hear more from Harriet and Juliana Forlono on "Capitalism Hits Home" produced by Democracy At Work go to www.harrietfraad.com.  Contact Sam on Twitter at @samthejamminman Sam's references: -Naomi Klein’s This Change’s Everything: Capitalism versus the Climate -Leigh Phillip’s Austerity Ecology and the Collapse Porn Addicts -Citations Needed Episode on Climate Chaos and Liberal Rhetoric Promoting Denialism: https://citationsneeded.libsyn.com/episode-121-climate-chaos-part-i-how-the-gap-between-liberal-rhetoric-policy-promotes-denialism Max's Jacobin reference: How Environmentalism Was Separated From Class Politics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFJIVdWfnhs 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.

Harriet proposes in this episode that for Americans to have good mental health, we have to decommodify all parts of the economy related to human need so that people don't feel depressed or anxious about things which all humans need and deserve. These aspects of the economy are primarily related to food, water, air, and housing. Currently, nutritious, organic and quality food is too inaccessible and expensive for millions of Americans. Privatized bottled water competes with public water so that when disasters like Flynt, Michigan occur, those who can afford bottled water for drinking and washing themselves, and those who can't may die. Air may not appear to be commodified, but areas where air is polluted (near fossil fuel extraction sites, for example) is cheaper to live near. The unequal distribution of access of food, water, and air across the U.S. shows patterns of inequality that sustain themselves as long as these aspects of commodified needs remain commodified (reinforcing our heavily racialized class divide in the U.S.).   Both therapists explore what decommodification of housing might look like. Max describes what authors of "In Defense Of Housing" call the hyper-commodification of housing since the Reagan Era, wherein random capitalists from all over the world can make financial decisions that can mass-evict tenants within cities because their housing is an "under performing asset." Max also tries to figure out if he and Harriet are advocating for social democracy (strong capitalist economy with heavy taxes to pay for social programs) or more traditional socialism (getting rid of the capitalist economy altogether).   --   Support us at patreon.com/itsnotjustinyourhead  Contact us at itsnotjustinyourhead@gmail.com  Books referenced: In Defense Of Housing by Peter Marcuse and David Madden Capital City by Sam Stein 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.