I am understanding that people are saying that we should not view mindsets that lead to becoming a child soldier or "social distancing protestor" as stemming from mental illness, but rather from societal inequities. However, are not most mental illnesses often the result of some inequity, trauma, repression, suppression, power dynamic, or developmental challenge due to lack of proper care, education, and access to basic core needs being met? I am not understanding how an individual who becomes borderline or depressed as an adult, after a childhood that involves abuse, rape, poverty, and/or neglect, is different from someone who protests in the streets as a result of job insecurity, xenophobic upbringings, and poor education?

where do we draw the line between mental illness and social inequity? I am genuinely a bit stuck here...

On Apr 27, 2020, at 10:11 AM, Zachary Stein <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Thanks Lene. Agreed.

Child soldiers and gang members are to be understood and helped with compassion and in ways that explicitly address the social, economic, and political contexts that placed their lives in such turmoil. Approaching "these people" as if they are mentally ill is the wrong frame.

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 27, 2020, at 9:40 AM, Lene Rachel Andersen - Nordic Bildung / Fremvirke <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hello everybody,

I think the best way to fight the idiocy is to produce a stronger narrative.

What actually makes America great?

American science, American ingenuity, American medicine, American collaboration, American expertise, American health care workers, American hardship, American perseverance, American spirit, American doctors, American technicians, American nurses, American...

And have somebody whom the Trump segment admires tout that story as loudly as possible; addressing anxious people who are under-educated, who have lost their livelihood in the globalized economy and who react understandably to a situation that leaves them powerless as a mental health issue would be an arrogant mistake.

/ Lene

On 27-04-2020 15:14, nysa71 wrote:

[log in to unmask]" class="">

Hi ToK Society,

An excellent --- though disturbing --- article where Yale psychiatrist, Brandy Lee, is interviewed:

"A Yale psychiatrist has warned that pro-Trump lockdown protesters, who exhibit similar psychology as 'child soldiers,' could quickly turn into 'armed troops in the streets' if the president loses his re-election bid.

"Dr. Bandy X. Lee, a forensic psychiatrist at the Yale School of Medicine, said the armed protests were a natural evolution of the loyalty President Trump demands from his supporters. Many of these protests have evidently been organized by deep-pocketed groups allied with the president."

https://www.salon.com/2020/04/23/yale-psychiatrist-bandy-lee-lockdown-protesters-resemble-child-soldiers-and-urban-gangs/

The mentality of these people should be of deep concern to mental health professionals, and I hope it is of top priority among the mental health community right now.

~ Jason Bessey

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