Is Capitalism the problem [behind our mental health crisis]?

This is a blog post I wrote nearly six years ago, on another blogging site tackling the issues of ‘clutter’ and hoarding. Already the mental health crisis we are now facing was even then being considered an epidemic. And that was before the Covid19 pandemic was even a rumour. The message, the linked article and the video are perhaps even more relevant in 2023.

In August 2017 Red Pepper online magazine published an essay suggesting that Capitalism is the cause of the seeming epidemic of mental health problems in our modern society.  It’s a long article, but well worth the read.

Capitalism, consumerism, the neo-liberalism that has dominated our political system for years, have collectively changed our society from one of communities working together to support each other, to a collection of largely selfish individuals who have bought into the advertising message that to be happy is to spend money and buy more goods.  When the spending and buying hasn’t brought consistent happiness then depression and other mental health problems have set in.

It is in the beginnings of mass production that began with the Industrial Revolution of the 18th Century that created the environment in which consumerism could flourish.  But it was the fledgling advertising industry that took the theories of Freud’s nephew Edward Bernays that created the obsession with image and buying, and the concept that our happiness is rooted in our spending and possessions.

It’s a long documentary (nearly 4 hours) but well worth watching.  Understanding the con could be the beginning of tackling that clutter (and our 2023 mental health crisis).