Is Psychology The Corrective Arm Of Modern Capitalism?
Although psychology professionals have traditionally set out to improve people’s quality of life as a fundamental objective, the truth is that in today’s world this discipline tends to act in favor of the status quo, and therefore to promote the maintenance of the negative consequences of the “free market”.
Not in vain, the conception of psychology as a corrective arm of modern capitalism It is very widespread. To analyze to what extent this idea is correct, it is first necessary to observe the global economic structure in which mental health is framed today.
We can define capitalism as a economic system focused on competition for resources, in the primacy of private property over public property and in decision-making by the owners of the means of production rather than by the states and, therefore, the citizens. Although capitalism has existed in different forms since the beginning of history, it became the dominant economic model starting with the Industrial Revolution and was institutionalized throughout the world with globalization, a clear consequence of these technical developments.
The critics We call “neoliberalism” the ideology that sustains modern capitalism This term refers to the resurgence of the classic principles of the free market that took place after the decades after the Second World War, during which states had applied interventionist policies to minimize social inequalities, which tend to grow without limit within the capitalist framework due to the accumulation of resources by those who have the most. These types of measures allowed wealth to be redistributed to a certain extent, something almost unheard of in modern history and which put economic elites on alert.
The key difference with traditional liberalism is that in practice neoliberalism advocates the takeover (not necessarily democratic) of states and supranational organizations, such as the European Union, to ensure that policies that favor those who benefit from them can be implemented. They have large amounts of accumulated capital. This harms the majority of the population, since the reduction of salaries and the dismantling of the public sector They make it difficult for the less fortunate to access basic services such as education and health.
Neoliberal ideas and the natural functioning of the capitalist economy promote more and more aspects of life to be governed by the logic of monetary benefit, focused especially on the short term and individual enrichment. Unfortunately, this includes the conception of mental health as a commodity, even a luxury item.
Economic inequality and mental health
The material inequalities promoted by capitalism in turn favor differences in mental health depending on socioeconomic status. As the number of people with monetary difficulties increases, a fact especially marked since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the subsequent recession, The prevalence of mental disorders also increases particularly those related to anxiety and depression.
An increasingly demanding work environment contributes to the generalization of stress, an alteration that is increasingly difficult to avoid and that increases the risk of contracting cardiovascular disorders and other physical illnesses. Likewise, the precariousness of working conditions generates insecurity and reduces the quality of life of people who depend on their employment to survive.
Precariousness
On the other hand, the capitalist structure needs a significant percentage of poor people to be able to maintain itself: if everyone could subsist without employment it would be very difficult for salaries to remain the same low, and therefore for owners to continue increasing their income. profit margin. This is why the promoters of neoliberal ideology reject the reform of a system in which unemployment is not so much a problem as a structural requirement.
Those who fail to fit into society are told that they don’t try hard or that they aren’t good enough; This facilitates the development of depressive disorders related to the inability to achieve their social and professional goals. Depression is one of the main risk factors for suicide, which is also favored by poverty and unemployment. In Greece, the country most affected by the austerity measures in public investment that the European Union has imposed since the crisis, the number of suicides has increased by approximately 35% since 2010.
Furthermore, with privatization and the progressive destruction of public services, the negative consequences of capitalism for mental health are accentuated. Within the framework of the welfare state, there were more people who were able to access psychological therapies that they would not otherwise be able to afford, but states today invest much less in healthcare, especially in its psychological aspect; This helps psychotherapy continue to be a luxury for the majority of the population, instead of a fundamental right.
The corrective role of psychology
Clinical psychology is not only difficult to access for a large number of people, but is also subject to the medicalization of mental health. Although in the long term It is more effective to treat depression or anxiety through psychotherapy the power of pharmaceutical corporations and the obsession with immediate profit have formalized throughout the world a healthcare model in which psychology is little more than support for disorders that cannot be “cured” with medications.
In this context that is not conducive to promoting mental health, psychology functions as a containment valve that, although it can improve well-being in individual cases, does not act on the ultimate causes of the problems that collectively affect societies. Thus, an unemployed person may be able to find a job after going to therapy to overcome their depression, but there will continue to be a high number of unemployed people at risk of depression as long as working conditions are maintained.
In fact, even the term “disorder” designates a lack of adaptation to the social context or the discomfort produced by it, rather than a fact of problematic nature in itself. Put clearly, psychological disorders are seen as problems because they interfere with the productivity of those who suffer from them and with the structure of society in a given period, rather than because they harm the individual.
In many cases, especially in areas such as marketing and human resources, the scientific knowledge obtained by psychology is not only not used to increase the well-being of the people who need it most but is tends to directly favor the interests of the company and the “system”, making it easier for them to achieve their objectives: obtain as many benefits as possible and with the least resistance from subordinates or citizens.
From the capitalist model, human development and the achievement of personal well-being are only beneficial to the extent that they favor the progress of the economic and political structures that already exist. The non-monetary part of social progress is considered of little relevance since it cannot be counted within the gross domestic product (GDP) and other indicators of material wealth, designed to favor the competitive accumulation of capital.
The individual against the collective
Current psychology has adapted to the social, political and economic system in a way that favors its continuity and the adaptation of people to its operating rules, even when they have basic flaws. In structures that promote individualism and selfishness, psychotherapy is also forced to do so if it aims to help specific individuals overcome their difficulties.
A good example is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or ACT, a cognitive-behavioral treatment developed over the past few decades. ACT, highly supported by research in a large number of disorders, focuses on the person adapting to the conditions of their life and deriving their goals from their personal values, overcoming the temporary discomfort they may feel in the process of achieve these objectives.
ACT, like most psychological interventions, has a very evident positive side based on its effectiveness, but also depoliticizes social problems because it focuses on individual responsibility, indirectly minimizing the role of institutions and other macrosocial aspects in the emergence of psychological alterations. Deep down, the logic that supports these therapies is that it is the person who has failed, not society.
Psychology will not be truly effective in increasing the well-being of society as a whole as long as it continues to leave aside the primary importance of modifying social, economic and political structures and focusing almost exclusively on providing individual solutions to problems that actually have a collective nature. .
