I think one of the most persistent and intractable problems with online discourses is that social media *structurally* takes the dialectical nature of discourse itself and massively amplifies it. Every correction becomes an overcorrection and discourse swings from one wild extreme to the other, so the "correction" to 2000s raunch culture was tenderqueers, and the "correction" to tenderqueer puritanism is Paglian gibberish and tradshit, and god knows what will "correct" that, and in every one of these wild cultural swings there is an opportunity for authoritarians and reactionaries to capitalize on people's genuine grievances and redirect them towards ideologies inimical to human freedom and self-expression. At this point I am not sure if anything actually good can come from the internet as we know it, it's a virtual prison yard with all the unhealthy social dynamics associated with such. However with the technologically mediated enclosure of every aspect of human sociality it is hard to even imagine an alternative.
i hate it so much i’m currently writing yet another piece on scepticism towards medical/psychiatric intervention and its place in far-right discourse… i really don’t think it gets the attention it deserves
Wow! Your writing here is so precise, clear cut, and heart wrenching. While this essay was written last summer, I feel as though the important ideas that you illustrated so beautifully are even more relevant today. Just this week, I’ve seen countless anti-therapy and anti-med articles on the Substack feed (I don’t follow this fascist type crap, but because I’m a girl who’s interested in psychology, apparently these alt right quacks pop up sometimes. After my initial horror, I try to block them.) Though I used to see the anti-med talk as a bugaboo of the far right, recently this dangerous rhetoric seems to be appearing more often among liberals as well. I’m terrified, but your writing helped me to feel less alone. The ableism and antisemitism inherent in this current wave of anti-therapy quackery is not lost on me. You wrote about the dangers of this anti med language so well, with deep empathy, fearlessness, and intelligence. A lot of people would not be here alive on this earth without the life saving benefits of antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and anxiety meds. I loved your line on the irony of how the lombotimized adolescent housewife is traditionally something the far right would salivate over. Right on! Thank you for speaking up about an issue that is near to my heart. I admire your courage to speak up! Access to medications and psychiatric help is literally a matter of life or death.
thank you so much, this is the kindest comment i have received in a good while! this horrid discourse has reared its head so much recently that i’m writing more on it which i’ll hopefully be publishing soon, but it really concerns me that this sort of sentiment has embedded itself across the political spectrum, whether it’s from outright fascists or leftists who post memes like “omg you people can’t do anything.” i think the latter need to engage their brains a bit more and think about the root of this rightward swing rather than just repeating it verbatim because they think it’s funny to get one over on mentally ill or neurodivergent people who they find annoying
I agree with 99% of this, and it blows my mind that you wrote this a year and a half ago and it’s becoming more relevant than ever
I just wanted to note…. I’m not an expert on Catholic ideology, but Catholicism is also very much about doing *work* to help others. Nuns and monasteries were meant to provide outreach to the sick and poor. Still today, there are a lot of “Catholic workers” groups whose goal is to do exactly that — work with and serve people who live in the margins of society. I personally know Catholic worker groups who help provide immigration and legal assistance, who provide free food, clothing, shelter, etc. to people who need it, and more.
Just like any organized religion, Catholicism was co-opted by hypocritical leaders who undermine the work of people actually providing care to others. Blame religious hypocrisy on organized religion, or individuals who use the guise of religion to do bad work — don’t blame the entire group of people ❤️🩹
yes definitely! i was more referring to people who co-opt catholicism based on shallow aesthetic signifiers without actually wanting to make a commitment to goodness and serving others, rather than people who *are* catholic and *do* do that. as i say, coming from a atheist jewish background where i'm patrilineal so would have to convert to be considered a practicing or legitimate jew in most circles, i'm acutely aware of how much work and commitment that conversion process takes, so seeing people like d*sha supposedly 'converting' to catholicism and declaring herself an arbiter of whether the pope is legit while being outright evil as a person is especially shocking to me. a lot of faith-based orgs are so genuine and so needed <3
Totally fair, sorry if I was a little brusk in my response!! I also really appreciated reading your perspective on this as an atheist jew, so thanks for sharing your story 🥲
Also I’m still laughing at “Virtuous Dasha acting as Jesus intended” — what a great read!
This writing was very good. The way you explained the gentleness of the therapist talking to you got to me especially. Therapy speak may not be the root of the problem, but in a lot of the instances you mentioned, it’s a quick bandaid that is used to avoid having the deeper conversations that are needed.
One such discourse I heard recently that made my blood boil was that asking your friends for pick ups at the airport is free labor.
Thank you for this. Being kind truly is everything. It has extreme effects on the psyche, too. I have often wondered if my SSRIs and tendency to retreat are the result of my own reactionary tendencies.
Well of course, pathologgisizing (or whatever the term is) our relationships destroys community and promotes fear mongering and individualism, therefore being an amazing tool for fascism
I think one of the most persistent and intractable problems with online discourses is that social media *structurally* takes the dialectical nature of discourse itself and massively amplifies it. Every correction becomes an overcorrection and discourse swings from one wild extreme to the other, so the "correction" to 2000s raunch culture was tenderqueers, and the "correction" to tenderqueer puritanism is Paglian gibberish and tradshit, and god knows what will "correct" that, and in every one of these wild cultural swings there is an opportunity for authoritarians and reactionaries to capitalize on people's genuine grievances and redirect them towards ideologies inimical to human freedom and self-expression. At this point I am not sure if anything actually good can come from the internet as we know it, it's a virtual prison yard with all the unhealthy social dynamics associated with such. However with the technologically mediated enclosure of every aspect of human sociality it is hard to even imagine an alternative.
okay thank you for bringing up the weird leftist anti-therapyspeak overcorrection... shit makes my eye twitch
i hate it so much i’m currently writing yet another piece on scepticism towards medical/psychiatric intervention and its place in far-right discourse… i really don’t think it gets the attention it deserves
oooh very excited to read that piece!!
Wow! Your writing here is so precise, clear cut, and heart wrenching. While this essay was written last summer, I feel as though the important ideas that you illustrated so beautifully are even more relevant today. Just this week, I’ve seen countless anti-therapy and anti-med articles on the Substack feed (I don’t follow this fascist type crap, but because I’m a girl who’s interested in psychology, apparently these alt right quacks pop up sometimes. After my initial horror, I try to block them.) Though I used to see the anti-med talk as a bugaboo of the far right, recently this dangerous rhetoric seems to be appearing more often among liberals as well. I’m terrified, but your writing helped me to feel less alone. The ableism and antisemitism inherent in this current wave of anti-therapy quackery is not lost on me. You wrote about the dangers of this anti med language so well, with deep empathy, fearlessness, and intelligence. A lot of people would not be here alive on this earth without the life saving benefits of antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and anxiety meds. I loved your line on the irony of how the lombotimized adolescent housewife is traditionally something the far right would salivate over. Right on! Thank you for speaking up about an issue that is near to my heart. I admire your courage to speak up! Access to medications and psychiatric help is literally a matter of life or death.
thank you so much, this is the kindest comment i have received in a good while! this horrid discourse has reared its head so much recently that i’m writing more on it which i’ll hopefully be publishing soon, but it really concerns me that this sort of sentiment has embedded itself across the political spectrum, whether it’s from outright fascists or leftists who post memes like “omg you people can’t do anything.” i think the latter need to engage their brains a bit more and think about the root of this rightward swing rather than just repeating it verbatim because they think it’s funny to get one over on mentally ill or neurodivergent people who they find annoying
I agree with 99% of this, and it blows my mind that you wrote this a year and a half ago and it’s becoming more relevant than ever
I just wanted to note…. I’m not an expert on Catholic ideology, but Catholicism is also very much about doing *work* to help others. Nuns and monasteries were meant to provide outreach to the sick and poor. Still today, there are a lot of “Catholic workers” groups whose goal is to do exactly that — work with and serve people who live in the margins of society. I personally know Catholic worker groups who help provide immigration and legal assistance, who provide free food, clothing, shelter, etc. to people who need it, and more.
Just like any organized religion, Catholicism was co-opted by hypocritical leaders who undermine the work of people actually providing care to others. Blame religious hypocrisy on organized religion, or individuals who use the guise of religion to do bad work — don’t blame the entire group of people ❤️🩹
yes definitely! i was more referring to people who co-opt catholicism based on shallow aesthetic signifiers without actually wanting to make a commitment to goodness and serving others, rather than people who *are* catholic and *do* do that. as i say, coming from a atheist jewish background where i'm patrilineal so would have to convert to be considered a practicing or legitimate jew in most circles, i'm acutely aware of how much work and commitment that conversion process takes, so seeing people like d*sha supposedly 'converting' to catholicism and declaring herself an arbiter of whether the pope is legit while being outright evil as a person is especially shocking to me. a lot of faith-based orgs are so genuine and so needed <3
Totally fair, sorry if I was a little brusk in my response!! I also really appreciated reading your perspective on this as an atheist jew, so thanks for sharing your story 🥲
Also I’m still laughing at “Virtuous Dasha acting as Jesus intended” — what a great read!
Really enjoyed this.
This is really, really good
This writing was very good. The way you explained the gentleness of the therapist talking to you got to me especially. Therapy speak may not be the root of the problem, but in a lot of the instances you mentioned, it’s a quick bandaid that is used to avoid having the deeper conversations that are needed.
One such discourse I heard recently that made my blood boil was that asking your friends for pick ups at the airport is free labor.
Thank you for this. Being kind truly is everything. It has extreme effects on the psyche, too. I have often wondered if my SSRIs and tendency to retreat are the result of my own reactionary tendencies.
Well of course, pathologgisizing (or whatever the term is) our relationships destroys community and promotes fear mongering and individualism, therefore being an amazing tool for fascism
I wonder what your thoughts are on this podcast about psychopharmacology if you’ve ever listened to it before https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Dj6cQjndEClpe1Uy1tiCI?si=W4wCYRg4Rp6TJKTdTY0xeA
this is on the nose, thanks for calling out this specific brand of internet brain rot
Lovely and refreshing
Can you give me your therapist’ number?
I can heavily relate to this. Thank you.