Content warning: COVID-19, mental health, colonialism

The past year has been incredibly difficult for many folks, a lot of us are quite frankly just beginning to process all that’s come to light, both politically and in lieu of the pandemic. Particularly for groups that have faced systemic oppression, and for folks with mental illnesses, the pandemic may have worsened the emotional, mental, and spiritual health of many. 

However, the response to the collective trauma of a global pandemic - and, as result, the increasing systemic violence against the poor - as well as the rampant growth of facism in the West, there continues to be an emphasis on a commodified vision of self-care.

Particularly with Valentine’s day rolling around, I’m sure we’re bound to see an increase of advertisement towards ‘self-care products’. Now, to be clear, I have nothing against treating yourself, if lighting a candle and putting on a facemask is enjoyable for you, go for it. Nevertheless, the growing list of unreasonably priced self-care products that, rather than actually aiming to improve their customer’s wellbeing, simply creates an environment where mental health and self-care are viewed as luxuries. From private jets and weekend getaways to $30 facemasks, it's clear that companies and influencers have come to promote materialism as the pinnacle of self-care. We’ve now adopted a culture, both on and off social media, where self-care is aestheticized rather than serving its purpose. Due to the nature of work under capitalism, the majority of working class folks have been accustomed to a culture of toxic productivity. Although the pressure to constantly be productive has continued for years, it’s become especially apparent under COVID lockdowns. In the past year 25% of US citizens reported that they or someone in their household lost a job since the beginning of the pandemic, due to this 46% of lower income adults have reported struggling to pay their bills. Even with little to no help from governments we continued to see influencers on social media urging others to take time during the pandemic to workout or learn a new skill.

Self-care is not exempt from this notion of constant productivity; by perpetuating an image of how to do self-care ‘correctly’ our wellbeing becomes inaccessible and can be seen as a chore. Due to the nature of living under neoliberalism, individualism has become deeply infused into the social culture of many Western countries. We’re expected to handle our mental health by ourselves, parents/guardians are taught to not talk about their mental health with their children, therapy has become highly stigmatized, and we’re made to feel as though reaching out for support is a burden for our loved ones. 

Even for folks that, despite stigma, do find the courage to seek therapy or professional mental health support, many will quickly learn that these facilities may not be accessible to them. In 2018, 5.3 million people in Canada reported needing support for their mental health, however, 34.1% of this population, over the age of 12, reported having their needs unmet. More specifically, Black and Indigenous folks are less likely to seek out and have access to mental health services and are more likely to receive poor quality treatment, leading them to end services early. 

When taking into consideration the intergenerational trauma that many BIPOC experience, the lack of care towards racialized communities is active colonialism. Considering that 86% of psychologists on Turtle Island are white, and our education is still extremely whitewashed, a majority of psychologists won’t have a thorough understanding of how systemic oppression is a form of trauma itself. Many therapists continue to look at trauma as a solely individual experience, completely neglecting intergenerational or collective forms of trauma. When looking at trauma as only an individual experience, we completely neglect large groups of people who’s trauma was not an experience of direct abuse from someone in their lives, but rather stems from living under capitalism and settler colonialism. I believe that it is so incredibly important to shift the ways we view mental health from an individual struggle, to something that genuinely impacts the collective. The narrative of trauma solely being individual feeds into this fairly recent development of the atomized family unit post-WWII. The atomized family unit is essentially an isolated family structure that was promoted alongside consumerist culture through media, education, and law. The formation of this structure was intended to replicate a hierarchy similar to that in the workplace, in which the parents hold absolute control over their children. Within this structure, entire family units become drastically more isolated as more traditional communities wither away. This is evident in the correlation between increasing rates of PTSD and the slow erasure of social support and collective forms of healing and ritual. When we fail to acknowledge that experiences of systemic oppression or violence are forms of trauma, we become complicit to these forms of individualism and continue to allow larger institutions to use us as puppets. Being complicit to individualism in this sense then also profits pharmaceutical companies, and consermerist forms of self-care. 

Intentionally creating healing, sacred, and safer spaces for folks that are impacted by racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, misogynoir, cisnormativity, etc., on an individual or systemic level, is fundamental to creating radical change. The creation of community, something that has been stripped from us, is so vital to our wellbeing. 

As Audre Lorde once said: “caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare”. It should be clear that Lorde’s use of ‘self’ is not to be conflated with the current mainstream use of ‘self’ as in the consumerist definitions of self-care, but rather Lorde is referring to how looking after ourselves and our community are vital to sustainable political movements. The present order of capitalism (and other oppressive institutions) only thrives when it keeps us separate, and so, self-care has been depicted as exclusive for the wealthy or privileged, when rather we all deserve the right to reclaim our own wellbeing and to have access to collective healing.

Resources*

Affordable Therapy Network - A community of therapists offering reduced rate counselling across Canada

Hope For Wellness Help Line - Available to all Indigenous peoples across Canada who are in need of immediate crisis intervention

LGBT Youthline -  LGBT YouthLine is a Queer, Trans, Two-Spirit youth-led organization that affirms and supports the experiences of youth (29 and under) across Ontario, Canada. 

Trans Lifeline - Provides trans peer support for the community that’s been divested from police since day one. Run by and for trans people.

ConnexOntario - provides free and confidential health services information for people experiencing problems with addiction by connecting them with services in their area (funded by the Government of Ontario)

List of National Hotlines

Ontario Victim Support Services 

*Please note that due to mandatory reporting laws some of these organizations may be required to report to the police.