Medicating Climate Change.
March 30th 2007 01:30
Australian researchers will study whether climate change creates a distress response.
This reminds me of an old (not terribly funny) joke:
Q: What’s a researcher?
A: Someone you pay $10,000 to tell you what a taxi driver could!
Imagine, our planet is dying; we are likely to suffer droughts, more cyclones; our crops are threatened – what me worry? (to quote Alfred E Neumann [the kid on Mad magazine]). Just imagine, a global catastrophe could lead to distress!
It is reported that the Australian Psychological Society may single out global warming as a threat to mental wellbeing. Physical survival doesn’t rate a mention.
What is the suggested solution? Well, none. You may think that political activism of some kind would be indicated. You may think that convening groups to create innovative solutions would be a step forward. Perhaps education about how to link with others to make changes to your life. None of these are contemplated.
A global crisis is reduced to anxiety about anxiety. Hey, let’s give people some drugs so they won’t worry! As the water level rises above chest level we will up the dosage!
If you get the idea that I am angry and contemptuous of this kind of response, you are absolutely right!
I know it would take a major change in mind-set and innovation in practice but how about we help people take realistic action to deal with a real threat. Heresy I know, but it does seem sensible.
This research seems so incredibly typical. Reduce a social or ecological problem to individual pathology. And so we betray the planet and our societies. But we will be able to feel good while we do this (the drugs work well).
Distress is not surprising and is not a problem if it is a response to a real situation. To medicalise a human reaction in this way I find appalling. Using drugs in this way lessens our humanity. It is not healthy.
This reminds me of an old (not terribly funny) joke:
Q: What’s a researcher?
A: Someone you pay $10,000 to tell you what a taxi driver could!
Imagine, our planet is dying; we are likely to suffer droughts, more cyclones; our crops are threatened – what me worry? (to quote Alfred E Neumann [the kid on Mad magazine]). Just imagine, a global catastrophe could lead to distress!
It is reported that the Australian Psychological Society may single out global warming as a threat to mental wellbeing. Physical survival doesn’t rate a mention.
What is the suggested solution? Well, none. You may think that political activism of some kind would be indicated. You may think that convening groups to create innovative solutions would be a step forward. Perhaps education about how to link with others to make changes to your life. None of these are contemplated.
A global crisis is reduced to anxiety about anxiety. Hey, let’s give people some drugs so they won’t worry! As the water level rises above chest level we will up the dosage!
If you get the idea that I am angry and contemptuous of this kind of response, you are absolutely right!
I know it would take a major change in mind-set and innovation in practice but how about we help people take realistic action to deal with a real threat. Heresy I know, but it does seem sensible.
This research seems so incredibly typical. Reduce a social or ecological problem to individual pathology. And so we betray the planet and our societies. But we will be able to feel good while we do this (the drugs work well).
Distress is not surprising and is not a problem if it is a response to a real situation. To medicalise a human reaction in this way I find appalling. Using drugs in this way lessens our humanity. It is not healthy.
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