It’s no secret that the UK’s welfare system is in a dire state. It’s underfunded and under-resourced, leading to dangerously high waiting times in the NHS and a horrifying lack of access to social care. In particular, the mental healthcare system is on the precipice of utter disaster, with higher demand than ever straining the already struggling system. However, it is important to realise that a lack of support from the UK Government is not the only problem the mental healthcare system faces — in fact, it may even be secondary — even if it were fully funded, it would still focus on the treatment rather than prevention of symptoms which are largely caused by living in a capitalist society which prioritises productivity over all else, and treats worker welfare as secondary at best.
In a capitalist system the economy must be constantly fed and fattened, so consistent productivity is vital. Those working to create this fodder must adhere to this productivity, therefore constant productiveness is looked on as the standard and any deviation from this norm, in this case in the form of mental ill-health, is seen as a malfunction. This reduction of the human to machine also reduces treatment to mere system maintenance. Adhering to this line of thinking, if a machine part wears out, that’s just the inevitable consequence of using the machine over time; all that’s to be done is to repair or replace the part and the machine resumes normal function.
Human beings, however, are not machines and were not built to break and be repaired over and over again. This method of treatment completely disregards the often environmental causes of mental ill-health which are too often related to economic factors of overwork and underpay. If a person’s anxiety, for example, is caused by burnout, then exercise and a few rounds of Beating the Blues are not going to help in the long run. If someone is feeling depressed due to a lack of purpose in their job role, what Karl Marx called ‘alienation’, then positive affirmations and facemasks are not going to make a dent. If a neurodivergent person struggles to operate in a workplace built for neurotypical people, drinking more water will not act as a miraculously restorative potion.
What then is an effective treatment? I can only speak to my own experience, gained after years of intense burnout (exacerbated by recently diagnosed ADHD) which shattered my ability to do even the simplest tasks in the workplace, ultimately resulting in being fired: the best treatment is being removed from the unsuitable environment followed by six months to a year of rest.
This, of course, is completely impossible for the vast majority of people in the world. It was only possible for myself due to a combination of fortunate factors (I have no dependents, no serious debts, and live in a country with a semi-functioning universal credit system). And yet this is the only thing that helped: no number of reluctant accommodations from managers, no attempts at shifting into positive mindsets, no amount of desk yoga could ever have had the effect that time away from a workplace I was fundamentally incompatible with had on the recovery process.
This method of treatment, however, is temporary. Even if we are lucky enough to get the required rest period, in a capitalist society we will always be expected to return to work as soon as possible because productivity will always be the expected norm for anyone living under the shadow of capitalism, particularly for those with chronic illnesses or disabilities. As long as we remain under this shadow, any respite earned from rest serves simply to delay the inevitable relapse.
Ultimately, the only real treatment of mental ill-health is to combat the expectations set by capitalism, challenge the status quo it imposes, and shift our priorities away from illimitable economic growth towards human happiness and wellbeing. First steps may include instigating a four-day workweek with no change in pay or conditions, or a Universal Basic Income to ensure no one is trapped in a workplace with which they are fundamentally incompatible. But there is much work to do beyond these first steps, which must eventually culminate in a completely different world without capitalistic influence.
In the meantime, the capitalist mental welfare system can keep recommending we journal, meditate, and practise gratitude but unless a major and true shift in the legal, economic, and societal expectations happens soon, it’s likely that many, many more people will find themselves burnt out and completely unable to function, which doesn’t sound particularly productive to me.