We all talk about progress. We all talk about justice. But what exactly do we mean by these terms? How do we know if we have made progress? How do we measure justice? When answering such questions most political activists will appeal to values. For example, those on the right of the political spectrum will argue that we have made progress as a result of increasing the level of competition within the economy. In contrast, those on the left of the political spectrum would argue that an increase in economic cooperation would constitute progress. But who is right? Values alone cannot help us answer this question.

Here, I would like to suggest an answer to these kinds of questions that has the potential to move us above and beyond the kind of ideological bickering suggested at above. That answer is, levels of mental health. A good understanding of mental health promotion can help us work out which values we should value. A good understanding of mental health promotion can deliver an evidence base for our politics.

Even within progressive circles, the subject of mental health promotion is still pushed to the periphery. This, I think, is a mistake. In fact, it is my opinion that mental health promotion should be a central criteria by which we measure social progress. Social justice activism should be about promoting mental health. Promoting mental health should be understood as synonymous with social justice activism. Why do I think this?

Properly understood, mental health tells us important things about human nature and social organization. All human beings are vulnerable to mental illness. These mental disorders come in a number of forms including; depression, anxiety, addiction and thought disorders. It may be the case that some people are more susceptible to developing one of the above forms of mental illness than the others. Nevertheless, we are all potential sufferers! That is the important point. We are all vulnerable to mental illnesses and are potential sufferers – yes! We are all susceptible to specific mental disorders – maybe? But susceptible or not, the development of any given mental illness within any given individual is not inevitable. For a mental illness to develop we need a trigger, or more likely a series of triggers within a set time-frame. What might these triggers be?

When asked what causes mental health problems the general public typically answer with something along the lines of, people get screwed up as a result of bad things happening to them. Examples of these bad things include; violent and traumatic events, day-to-day stress, loss, neglect and poverty.

This uneducated account of the causes of mental health problems contrasts sharply with that of the typical professional who has been trained to understand such problems as resulting from genetically determined chemical imbalances in the brain. As these chemical imbalances in the brain result from an inherited illness it only makes sense for psychiatrists (and other mental health professionals) to treat them with drugs that are designed to correct this imbalance. But who is right – the trained professionals or the ignorant masses?

Research into the causes of mental health problems strongly supports the intuition of the general public. It is social and environmental factors – such as economic and status inequality, child neglect/abuse, bullying, rape, conflict and war, loss of a loved one, stress – that determine whether or not an individual will develop a mental disorder. Also, how we interpret and respond to such events can make a difference, as can things like levels of support within our social networks. That said, in a racist, sexist and classist society, levels of self-confidence and access to support are also tied up with and dependent upon social and environmental factors such as race, gender, class, etc.

These causes of mental health problems can be understood as telling us something about what it means to be a human being. For example, the fact that economic and status inequality can contribute to the onset of depression, anxiety, addiction and thought disorders suggest that economic and status equality is an important, and perhaps fundamental, human need.

Furthermore, if we can identify the social institutions that exacerbate economic and status inequality (or any of the other triggers) we can correctly identify these social institutions as pathological. As soon as an institution has been identified as pathological – i.e. promoting mental illness – social justice activists can organize to dismantle it and replace it with an alternative that performs the same function, but in ways that are conducive to mental health, which is to say in tune with fundamental human needs.

In this way we can use mental health promotion to inform social justice activism in ways that go beyond ideology.

Notes

The comments that I make regarding the general public’s views on mental health are taken from John Read and Pete Sanders The Causes of Mental Health Problems which is part of an excellent series of Straight Talking Introductions to Mental Health Problems published by PCCS Books.

 

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