How trauma affects the economy
How trauma affects the economy
I don’t know if any of you are familiar with Gabor Maté’s work, he’s a well-respected Canadian psychologist and medical doctor. But I feel like some of the things he has to say could definitely support your cause. For one he says that the economy runs on people’s traumas, meaning he believes that trauma, which is common these days (but still not a well-known fact), creates addictions in people. And the reason why people consume so much is because of their addictions. He also points out that it’s the system we live in, which he describes as ‘toxic’, that causes traumas in people (he also says that our system is not at all supportive of mothers).
I can answer questions on trauma if anyone is interested, I’m no expert but somewhat well-informed on the subject or I can at least cover the basics. Or I would recommend reading the book Healing Trauma by Peter Levine which is short and easy, it also comes with exercises you can do from home to heal your own traumas. The documentary The Wisdom of Trauma is also very good.
And this is all science-based information, although I’m not entirely sure what is his own opinion and what is backed by science. But trauma is well-known amongst therapists. The good news is that there’s some relatively easy way for people to heal their traumas or to at least improve their symptoms (trauma can cause all sorts of symptoms). I used a method called Somatic Experiencing and got amazing results. I’m just thinking that this really supports your cause, if people start to become more aware of their traumas and are able to heal them, it could mean that people will have less addictions and therefore will start consuming less and this would affect the economy negatively (or you could say positively). Which creates more incentive to change the system… Also, I think if people become more aware of the fact that the system they live in is toxic to their health in many ways AND even traumatizes their children, I can’t imagine that anyone would want that to continue.
Something else he said is that he thinks that people from the Right are ‘emotionally shut down’. Which means that if someone experiences too much pain they can shut down emotionally, and no longer feel things as a normal, healthy person would. So the question is whether someone who’s in a position of power should be unable to feel empathy? Is this something that should be allowed in our society?
I honestly don’t know much about politics, but want to learn, but I know a little about psychology and I often wonder how what we know about psychology could be applied to politics or how it could be applied to change society in general. I might be wrong, but I’m seeing some huge potential in this type of information.
How this is also very powerful is that people can see more of how their society affects them personally. If it’s affecting your own health and your own children, you’re much more likely to take action and want change than if you’re talking about society and politics. I think for a lot of people that can seem a little more remote or out of reach…
Also if anyone here is struggling with their own addictions, I would encourage you to try Somatic Experiencing to see if it helps. Medical doctors are not trained in emotional trauma, so there’s a chance they would diagnose someone with a medical illness when they’re actually experiencing symptoms caused by trauma.
I wouldn’t mind hearing people’s thoughts on this... I know this information can be somewhat ‘shocking’ when you first hear it. But you’re better off knowing than not knowing, at least you can do something about it. I would suggest looking up Gabor Maté and Peter Levine’s YouTube videos for more information.
I feel like saying that economy runs on trauma is a commentary on the symptoms of an economy based on ruthless extraction of surplus value and exploitation of nature to line the pockets of the bourgeoisie.
Absolutely, it is. 👍
I actualy think mental health is critical for national security so I agree.
I think even just the term "mental health" obfuscates the fact that its really just about people's general wellbeing. Poor "mental health" is just the result of living in a morally and culturally bankrupt society where people's fundamental social needs are not met.
That’s exactly what he says, but I feel like science can provide proof of this now, even though it was already obvious. 🙄 He says ‘It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society’. From a young age, I always felt like something was ‘wrong’, but didn’t know what it was… I more often felt like there was something wrong with me or with the fact that no one was talking about how wrong things were. Personally I always felt like the system I live in was very much against me, just trying to trick me into getting my money all the time... They would even ask me to do unethical things in the workplace, which didn’t seem right. And I live in Canada, where things are not so bad, but still not great either.
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Right? What are we doing if our leaders are mentally ill? Not that anyone is perfectly healthy. But I would think being ‘emotionally shut down’ is a major concern? Someone is making decisions that have a high impact on the population and they can’t even feel empathy? Clearly that doesn’t work. :-/
Exactly. This is why term limits should be at the Soviets' pleasure.
I’m aware of Maté’s work. I listened to a democracy now interview with him when his book came out, and his son was on a TERF “Marxist” pod I listened to at the time. Along this line of thinking I am reminded of on the Marx Madness podcast where Sungmanitou keeps saying that communist groups should be providing childcare because that will free up time for parents to participate in the movement (as people with children are most likely to care about the future). I’m sure this would also work with what you’re saying by preventing trauma and hopefully instilling better values.
I didn’t know his son was also Marxist, good to hear. I love the childcare idea! Thanks for sharing. What he also says is that parents should really avoid childcare for at least the first 3-4 years of the life of children. Children really need their parents. It’s part of what causes trauma, a child needs a strong sense of safety and they’re not really getting enough of that in the current system.
I don’t know if he’s Marxist, and I don’t know if it’s positive or negative for him to be on that podcast. Of course, we shouldn’t be ripping kids from their parents, but it takes a village to raise a child. In a society that doesn’t give parental leave, profit motive free childcare is still a positive.
Sorry, I'm allergic to Canadian psychologists 🤧 /s
Well here’s the thing about Pinocchio…
Trauma is definitely the point. Trauma can be inherited on a genetic level and we can infer that many mental illnesses, neurodivergences, etc. may also be the result of our inherited traumas. Trauma makes it much harder to operate under capitalism. It makes us much more prone to addictions. Unless we actively work towards healing our traumas, we will continue to abuse people in our personal lives. Trauma is a huge factor in maintaining social divisions between races, classes, genders.
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I have dealt with trauma, and very destructive addiction, caused largely and made worse by the current economic climate. I sort of felt like a human sacrifice and it was quite surreal.
I have broken free of those things, mostly due to a shift in my own perspective about me and my place in the world, and through mindfulness, I have been able to maintain a decent balance of needing things to survive, and helping others. Most of the things I needed were unnecessary and due to me not processing emotion, ignoring them, fighting them, instead of contemplating what and why I feel a certain way and how it really affected me and those around me.
It is a battle to maintain this, and I must always be on my toes not to succumb to my lesser nature, which is propagated by the system I was born in to.
I am me, I like who I am, and I wish for you to do the same, so we can be better to eachother by actually caring for ourselves and others as an extension of that.
I was addicted to drugs. I was run through the system. I was ashamed and made to feel inadequate, spiraling into an ever worsening state of despair, apathy, and consumption.
Thanks for reading
So sorry to hear that… :( Addictions are very hard to deal with. It hasn’t been a major problem for me but I can imagine… Life can get very dark, I’ve been there. Mindfulness also helped me, as well as doing a lot of healthy reframing. It takes a lot of practice and commitment but it does work. Repressing emotions is very harmful to your health. One thing I practice is just really feeling my feelings, if that makes sense. Gabor Maté talks a lot about that as well, or the impacts of not being authentic, or being a people-pleaser and not knowing how to set boundaries for yourself.
I honestly think life will always be challenging, there’s just ups and downs. But you can definitely improve your life and you can learn how to cope better. If you weren’t blessed with a good health you can get healthier.
I also often felt inadequate, or wasn’t sure what to think of myself. Turns out I was just traumatized… and this has more to do with the system I live than it had to do with me. It’s a helpful realization but also quite dark to contemplate. You’re definitely not alone with all this, even though it can feel that way sometimes, that’s important to remember.
Thanks for the nice wishes! And best of luck to you. Thanks for opening up and sharing your experience, I know it’s not an easy topic. Never give up! ✊
I agree with all of that. The system I was born into thrives off that trauma.
It basically comes down to boundaries.
I know what I can tolerate now. I know what makes me happy. I know who I am.
Everything else is bullshit as far as I'm concerned.
I can't controll everything, but what I can control is enough to not live in utter despair.
My experience has made me more aware and mindful of myself, other's, and escapable human nature, which you have touched on "up and downs" and I believe just knowing that, being aware of it, is enough to move past trauma in a productive way, as far as how I interacted with the world. .
I find I am much more honest, what some would call jaded, now. But I believe I am better for it.
Maybe I have trauma, but it's hard for me to accept because I've never gone through anything even close to real hardship.
Well that’s the thing, people don’t really understand trauma. When people think of trauma, usually they think of a veteran having trauma from having been through a war, or someone who has physical trauma or trauma from being in a traumatic event like a car accident. But it’s not like that at all… I mean that can also cause trauma but what Gabor says is that the way we live nowadays is very different from the way we evolved, and nowadays a child doesn’t necessarily get a sense of safety and security like they once did. Part of that is because people live more isolated lives, also it can just come from the stress of the parents, which the child picks up on. An anxious mother is enough to cause trauma, or a mother who has a poor sense of boundaries... I wasn’t sexually or physically abused, haven’t had any traumatic event in my life but I was still diagnosed with trauma. My mom just has a poor sense of boundaries, or ‘I think’ that’s what caused it in my case… But I also have anxious parents.