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It is time for more holistic practices in mental health

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Re: It is time for more holistic practices in mental health

#41

Post by surfingdino »

aljgz wrote: post #17

It is incredible how bad we are, at the end of the first quarter of 21st century, at having a well planned and executed strategy to improve mental health of people. Compare it to physical health. For instance, everyone is advised to take regular tests (like blood tests). While things can still be improved a lot, this simple proactive measure helps detect many health problems before they cause serious damage. For ment…

> Maybe advances in AI can bring proactive mental health monitoring to more people.

And how would proactive mental health monitoring work in practice?

Re: It is time for more holistic practices in mental health

#42

Post by hoseja »

can16358p wrote: post #25

I strongly believe we don't have "mental health problems", yet we have a global style of living in "modern society" that is inherently incompatible with the way we evolved: e.g. office-based daily tasks instead of walking and hunting, foods fabricated to stimulate us instead of what we could find in nature, high buildings and cities with sound/light/air pollution instead of a calm, clean nature, always trying to "opt…

It's a result of societal competition. The people most able to survive and breed in these hostile harsh conditions will sadly inherit the Earth. You can't slow down or the Red Queen bulldozes you.

Re: It is time for more holistic practices in mental health

#43

Post by PartiallyTyped »

vasco wrote: post #38
PartiallyTyped wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> supposed to That assumes there’s intention and that we are “guided”. I think we just are.

You're adding that in. If I drop a ball it's supposed to fall, it doesn't mean gravity guided it.

The ball is not supposed to do anything, the ball has no intention. The ball just is, and it follows the laws of physics.

Re: It is time for more holistic practices in mental health

#44

Post by lynx23 »

can16358p wrote: post #25

I strongly believe we don't have "mental health problems", yet we have a global style of living in "modern society" that is inherently incompatible with the way we evolved: e.g. office-based daily tasks instead of walking and hunting, foods fabricated to stimulate us instead of what we could find in nature, high buildings and cities with sound/light/air pollution instead of a calm, clean nature, always trying to "opt…

[flagged]

Re: It is time for more holistic practices in mental health

#45

Post by huijzer »

I talk a lot to people who are training to become therapist, to PhD's in psychology, and read a lot of psychology papers. If there is one thing it's time for then it's for academia to get out of their ivory tower and face the real world. As Taleb puts it:

“I will repeat the following until I am hoarse: it is contagion that determines the fate of a theory in social science, not its validity.”

Or as Yarkoni & Westfall put it: "psychology's near-total focus on explaining the causes of behavior has led much of the field to be populated by research programs that provide intricate theories of psychological mechanism but that have little (or unknown) ability to predict future behaviors with any appreciable accuracy." [1]

I personally think it's fair to compare social science research with monks researching a religious text. They can work hard for years without ever coming up with a new idea.

So what's the solution? Somehow dogmatism should be reduced. This will probably happen once the government figures out how to align incentives better. Currently, peer review and grant proposals are largely done by academic peers. These peers can strengthen dogmatic ideas. Somehow, there should be a mechanism introduced that counters this.

[1]: https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617693393

Re: It is time for more holistic practices in mental health

#46

Post by vasco »

PartiallyTyped wrote: post #43
vasco wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're adding that in. If I drop a ball it's supposed to fall, it doesn't mean gravity guided it.

The ball is not supposed to do anything, the ball has no intention. The ball just is, and it follows the laws of physics.

I think you're only aware of a narrow definition of "supposed to", you're saying the same thing I am.

Edit: to expand a bit. My point is exactly that - if the universe is deterministic. This only applies up to the limit of precision that it can use to calculate its own physics laws but otherwise it should be deterministic. And within a deterministic system all objects are supposed to do certain things, according to the laws that govern them. There's no ulterior moral "supposed to" in the way I'm using the word, which I think is valid usage but I'm not native.

Re: It is time for more holistic practices in mental health

#47

Post by oldpersonintx »

can16358p wrote: post #25

I strongly believe we don't have "mental health problems", yet we have a global style of living in "modern society" that is inherently incompatible with the way we evolved: e.g. office-based daily tasks instead of walking and hunting, foods fabricated to stimulate us instead of what we could find in nature, high buildings and cities with sound/light/air pollution instead of a calm, clean nature, always trying to "opt…

[dead]

Re: It is time for more holistic practices in mental health

#48

Post by r2_pilot »

ImHereToVote wrote: post #27
can16358p wrote: post #25

I strongly believe we don't have "mental health problems", yet we have a global style of living in "modern society" that is inherently incompatible with the way we evolved: e.g. office-based daily tasks instead of walking and hunting, foods fabricated to stimulate us instead of what we could find in nature, high buildings and cities with sound/light/air pollution instead of a calm, clean nature, always trying to "opt…

Contemporary systems are an organism to themselves. Guided by natural "artificial" selection. Corporations are like aliens trying to terraform the social landscape so they can survive. I can't image what it will be like when they become even more autonomous.

In fact, the original concept of a corporation was that they were created for a specific purpose and then dissolved once completed. In a way, the fact that modern corporations don't do that is analogous to how cancer is mutated cells that don't stop growing, even to the detriment of the host.

Re: It is time for more holistic practices in mental health

#49

Post by benterix »

Religion would like to have a word with you.

Yes, I'm very serious here. Apart from crooks, fanatics and other vocal minorities, the religious people I met have several advantages. One, more mundane, is a sense of community which works best in smaller groups. Second, a sense of purpose in life and a kind of reference point. Third, when a darker period comes, a source of strength to go through it.

Re: It is time for more holistic practices in mental health

#50

Post by tsobral »

can16358p wrote: post #25

I strongly believe we don't have "mental health problems", yet we have a global style of living in "modern society" that is inherently incompatible with the way we evolved: e.g. office-based daily tasks instead of walking and hunting, foods fabricated to stimulate us instead of what we could find in nature, high buildings and cities with sound/light/air pollution instead of a calm, clean nature, always trying to "opt…

This. In the past few decades we changed completely how we are supposed to live. Our bodies and brains evolved and adapted through thousands and thousands of years. With plenty of outdoor activity, sunlight, bonding in close communities, quiet time to exercise creativity and arts, and specially, the lack of continuous stimuli and artificially induced anxiety and stress of modern world.
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