this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023
85 points (79.3% liked)

Communism

394 readers
1 users here now

Discussion Community for fellow Marxist-Leninists and other Marxists.

Rules for /c/communism

Rules that visitors must follow to participate. May be used as reasons to report or ban.

  1. No non-marxists

This subreddit is here to facilitate discussion between marxists.

There are other communities aimed at helping along new communists. This community isn't here to convert naysayers to marxism.

If you are a member of the police, armed forces, or any other part of the repressive state apparatus of capitalist nations, you will be banned.

  1. No oppressive language

Do not attempt to justify your use of oppressive language.

Doing this will almost assuredly result in a ban. Accept the criticism in a principled manner, edit your post or comment accordingly, and move on, learning from your mistake.

We believe that speech, like everything else, has a class character, and that some speech can be oppressive. This is why speech that is patriarchal, white supremacist, cissupremacist, homophobic, ableist, or otherwise oppressive is banned.

TERF is not a slur.

  1. No low quality or off-topic posts

Posts that are low-effort or otherwise irrelevant will be removed.

This is not a place to engage in meta-drama or discuss random reactionaries on lemmy or anywhere else.

This includes memes and circlejerking.

This includes most images, such as random books or memorabilia you found.

We ask that amerikan posters refrain from posting about US bourgeois politics. The rest of the world really doesn’t care that much.

  1. No basic questions about marxism

Posts asking entry-level questions will be removed.

Questions like “What is Maoism?” or “Why do Stalinists believe what they do?” will be removed, as they are not the focus on this forum.

  1. No sectarianism

Marxists of all tendencies are welcome here.

Refrain from sectarianism, defined here as unprincipled criticism. Posts trash-talking a certain tendency or marxist figure will be removed. Circlejerking, throwing insults around, and other pettiness is unacceptable.

If criticisms must be made, make them in a principled manner, applying Marxist analysis.

The goal of this subreddit is the accretion of theory and knowledge and the promotion of quality discussion and criticism.

Check out ProleWiki for a communist wikipedia.

Communism study guide

bottombanner

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Being a graduate from 3 years of studying psych and with an active experience of mental illness, I can say that no amount of studying theory and doing therapy+ taking meds for years helped me realize the root of my problems and my worth as a human. more than Marxist analysis. I live to be a part of the revolution, and as long as psychotherapy reinforces the client to believe in themselves and to accept the realities of it is what it is, it will never achieve its job of liberating the person. There is a need for psychology to gain a Marxist perspective, more so from modern day leftists in the mental health field.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (10 children)

What do you know/think about dialectical behavioural therapy? Is there any good in it?

Edit: speak of the devil, there's a new book out on politics and mental health: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745346717/mad-world/

Edit 2: and another one coming out soon, on neurodiversity and capitalism: https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745348667/empire-of-normality/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@redtea @lav

I’m unimpressed. I’ve studied it but never tried it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I use it for myself all the time. Its the best medication free approach ive tried persoanally

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

@ThatMagickBastard

The talking cure is amazing when you and your therapist work well together, but the root of so much mental illness is capitalism that psych practitioners can only do so much. They basically just medicate/train you to function in this hell. That’s not really mental health

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I find this take problematic. Therapy suffers from capitalism obviously, but that doesn't mean it's completely useless or just a tool to subjectivate you. I think what youre saying is true, but incomplete. Therapy absolutely helps me be a better communicator and organizer, and always supported my activism. Granted i was lucky to find a good one. I've learned mental/emotional tools now that help me more than i can say.

I resent this aspect of capitalism as deeply as anyone. My fear about your take is it could dissuade people from getting help who really need some in the meantime, even with things as they are. It's a bit too doomer for my taste, maybe.

Also, DBT is literally dialectics. That's like...our whole thing. As a modality it even de-emphasizes the expert/patient relationship. I see it as a potential line of flight out of commodity therapy, personally.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@ThatMagickBastard

I said therapy is great if you can find a practitioner you work well with. But DBT. It’s not even a dialectic, or at least not on any but the most simplistic level.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

...and i agreed i was lucky to have a good one. Im confused by your statement, tho. DBT is a dialectical approach, not a contradiciton in itself. What? Pessimism v optimism is a mental health dialectic.

My point in the first place was a dialectic thought antithetical to yours. Not an argument, so we can chill. You basically said therapy here isn't therapy its subjectivication, and i said sometimes therapy is good. Thats a dialectic contradiction. Synthesis? Idk revolution in healthcare.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Any good resources you could recommend?

Feel absolutely free to say no—I don't know if I should even be asking—but would you run us through how your use it for yourself? (Without any personal details, of course.)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

For starters it's an offshoot of cognitive behavior therapy. So it's not like analysis, it's more like working through patterns and defining alternatives. The process of learning it felt like learning a skill, not being analized in that way. It was about gaining tools to do my own work. An example of how i use DBT is like when i feel like an imposter as an organizer i remind myself what i've accomplished already. Then boom, just from talking to myself i feel better, and as a bonus i used it to make myself more ready to revolt.

here's a link explaining it better than i can.

Also, in general i agree with you comrade, just wanted to add that important nuance. Systemically therapy is a shit sandwich. All my therapists have been total libs too, but theyve also been nothing but encouraging and validating for me personally. Caution at the potential for abuse is very wise, indeed.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks for this. I'll look into it.

I have to say that just learning about Marxist dialectics did wonders for my mental health. I haven't suffered from a job rejection ever since, for example (I've still been rejected or outright ignored enough times!). It's just how things are under capitalism, which needs a reserve army of labour. And I haven't worried so much about having to move for work ever since, either. Workers are forced to be nomadic under capitalism. I find it a lot easier to accept these things now that I understand that I am floating on geopolitical currents. The contradictions between reality and bourgeois idealism were the cause of a lot of angst, as I sure they are for others. Simply understanding the dialectics involved makes life a lot more manageable.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yea totally! Being able to point the blame somewhere accurately instead of internalizing our lack of success as some personal failure is pretty nice.

load more comments (8 replies)