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Comprehensive Self-Determination, for Palestine and the Mentally Ill
From the author: “In 2015, I had just been discharged from my second (final) visit to a mental hospital: “I remember being shocked mental hospitals still existed. Aside from therapy, I had received no education about serious mental illness. “No one should go through that alone.” –Erin Grimm, Author, Speaker, Consultant About the author: Erin…
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Graceful Christian Antizionism
What if there was graceful Christian antizionism? Why is it that antizionism always seems to be so radical? Does that always have to be the case? I just watched two videos on Christian Zionism that I highly recommend. It’s a two-part series, the videos are short, and they helped me see how Christian Zionism harms people…
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“Treatment” is a colonial concept
The concept of treatment is inherently colonial. When we talk about mental illness treatment, we should consider talking instead about mental illness alleviation. As I mentioned in a recent post there are multiple reasons for this need to use the word “alleviate” rather than “treat.” I refer you to that post, but also want to…
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Psychosis is like a scab
I think of psychosis as a deep scrape that clots and scabs: if you return to the same line of thinking, the same books, the same relationships, etc., those same pathways are renewed and you risk relapse. Returning to the same field of study is like scratching off the scab: your mind dissolves again into the…
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Is social justice a form of mental health treatment?
In my recent podcast with Slate on the show “Hear Me Out” my interviewer, Celeste Headlee, was incredulous that social justice could be a form of mental health treatment. I said that no, I don’t think of social justice as a form of mental health treatment. However, as I think about it more, I think…
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My New Mental Health Podcast, and: Palestinian Trauma
Promoting Palestinian mental health impacts everyone. While I didn’t end up going to Palestine as I had planned in this post, I will go later. I am currently focusing on my sphere of influence here in Seattle. What have I been up to? In addition to going to protests, I was also able to promote…
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Gaza has now become a concentration camp
Already decried as an open air prison for decades, now people are being denied food and water. We are genuinely all global witnesses to Israel’s terrorist state. There is no better word for this than infrahumanization. Infrahumanization occurs when a person is seen as irredemable, inhuman, irrevocably other, and evil, and not worthy of consideration,…
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Enough already…US Military Support of Israel Must End
I am finally realizing that thinking America was a democracy was an illusion. Or at least I don’t feel represented. Biden, without checking in with any other American leaders, pledged unwavering support for Israel. My patience is waning with Biden, not Israel. I have Jewish friends, my grandpa fought Nazis in World War Two (which…
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Israel and Palestine Research Update–It’s Complicated!
So I was wrong to simplify it last week as Jews treating Palestinians as Native Americans. This is going to be a really long post that kind of disrupts the purpose of this blog. But it is on my mind and I want to share the link of this post with some journalists and scholars,…
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The Limits of Decoloniality and Imperialism
We see the limits of decoloniality in some progressive Americans’ positive reaction to the recent attack on Israel. This despite the kidnappings and killings of Israeli (and American and other) civilians. The decolonial party line is that the United States, via Israel, is oppressing Palestinians. I happen to agree with that assessment, up to a…
