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Things I Want: Part Whatev
Feb. 16th, 2011 11:20 pmYou know what I want? I want therapy to stop being this big stigmatized thing in fic. MENTAL HEALTH IS A THING. GET SOME, FUTURE.
I refer to my own as the crazy but I'm not labeling anyone else because, hey, we all get to pick our terms. I first went to therapy when I was 13 years old. In part because my (questionably fit) parents were living on the other side of the planet and in part because I'd pretty much ceased to speak. At least in the presence of the relatives with whom I lived.
It is not hyperbole to say that therapy has saved my life several times over.
Fic is, I think, a playground for how we WANT the world to be. The essential nature of Star Trek is, to me, optimisitc; within the confines of the writers's own time-sensitive worldviews, they were trying to portray a world - a universe - where humans didn't fuck up so much, where we GOT IT RIGHT. The best fic does that, too; it fixes the weak characterization of women, the sexism (why hallo thar, slut shaming), the token characterization of people of color (it made an effort, a huge effort but it certainly wasn't perfect). The best fic acknowledges the issues and gives us a chance to make better worlds for ourselves. (This often involves porn, I'm ngl.)
And yet, time and again, I see fic either pretending like competent mental health professionals don't exist or actively perpetuating the stigma of seeking help for mental health issues by having characters determinedly avoid treatment - or just outright bash it. People avoid treatment because a) it is so stigmatized and b) it's a fucking nightmare to negotiate the mental health system and the insurance system (if you have insurance) on a good day, much less if you are having some sort of actual issue.
McCoy is a goddamn space psychologist! It is all-but-mandatory for those who study the treatment of mental health issues to be in treatment themselves. Therapy (and/or medication) doesn't negate issues, especially those rooted in traumatic life events, but it sure as shit can help people through it. And if your husband sacrificed himself OVER A LIVE COMM LINE while you gave birth to y'all's baby? Yeah, any organization worth anything would damn sure be making certain you get some mental health counseling. If you're one of the child survivor's of a planet-wide famine? YOU ARE GOING TO BE IN THERAPY FOR YEARS.
You're still going to have issues, I am pretty sure. I'm not certain that broken things can ever really be put all the way back together. But you're going to get some help.
I know everyone loves a bad boy, a maladjusted misfit, but I really don't get the erasure of psychology and psychiatry except as tests to be beaten no matter one's actual mental state.
I refer to my own as the crazy but I'm not labeling anyone else because, hey, we all get to pick our terms. I first went to therapy when I was 13 years old. In part because my (questionably fit) parents were living on the other side of the planet and in part because I'd pretty much ceased to speak. At least in the presence of the relatives with whom I lived.
It is not hyperbole to say that therapy has saved my life several times over.
Fic is, I think, a playground for how we WANT the world to be. The essential nature of Star Trek is, to me, optimisitc; within the confines of the writers's own time-sensitive worldviews, they were trying to portray a world - a universe - where humans didn't fuck up so much, where we GOT IT RIGHT. The best fic does that, too; it fixes the weak characterization of women, the sexism (why hallo thar, slut shaming), the token characterization of people of color (it made an effort, a huge effort but it certainly wasn't perfect). The best fic acknowledges the issues and gives us a chance to make better worlds for ourselves. (This often involves porn, I'm ngl.)
And yet, time and again, I see fic either pretending like competent mental health professionals don't exist or actively perpetuating the stigma of seeking help for mental health issues by having characters determinedly avoid treatment - or just outright bash it. People avoid treatment because a) it is so stigmatized and b) it's a fucking nightmare to negotiate the mental health system and the insurance system (if you have insurance) on a good day, much less if you are having some sort of actual issue.
McCoy is a goddamn space psychologist! It is all-but-mandatory for those who study the treatment of mental health issues to be in treatment themselves. Therapy (and/or medication) doesn't negate issues, especially those rooted in traumatic life events, but it sure as shit can help people through it. And if your husband sacrificed himself OVER A LIVE COMM LINE while you gave birth to y'all's baby? Yeah, any organization worth anything would damn sure be making certain you get some mental health counseling. If you're one of the child survivor's of a planet-wide famine? YOU ARE GOING TO BE IN THERAPY FOR YEARS.
You're still going to have issues, I am pretty sure. I'm not certain that broken things can ever really be put all the way back together. But you're going to get some help.
I know everyone loves a bad boy, a maladjusted misfit, but I really don't get the erasure of psychology and psychiatry except as tests to be beaten no matter one's actual mental state.
