Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

[deleted] t1_j7qqkp1 wrote

Reply to comment by Ray_Pingeau in People from the poorest backgrounds are far more likely to develop a mental disorder later in life than those from wealthier beginnings. More than half of people with a low educational attainment at age 30 will have a diagnosis of a mental disorder 22 years later by Wagamaga

[deleted]

−8

Sethuel t1_j7r1x3w wrote

I don't want to say your version never happens, but there are extremely clear and consistent links between childhood trauma and mental illness, and poverty/food insecurity/homelessness are pretty major traumas to experience in childhood.

To the extent that any of us have a "healthy brain," it's because of an environment that has nurtured our cognitive development. It's a lot like how a healthy body comes from a nutritious diet and not fast food (which, not coincidentally, is why wealthy people have far fewer health problems and a longer life expectancy than people who experience poverty).

Genetics and environment interact constantly. Our genetics have some variation but our differences mostly reflect different skill sets and areas of high potential, rather than any one unitary dimension of intelligence. But our environments vary wildly. To "succeed" in our system, you need access to resources that will train and maximize whatever genetic skills you have, and point that training towards the skills that are valued by capitalism. And that's where environmental differences create massive disparities.

Having grown up pretty well-off and going to private school from third grade through college, I do want to acknowledge the pervasiveness of the narrative that our system rewards people who are smarter and more deserving. So I understand where you're coming from. But that upbringing means I've been around a lot of rich people, and I feel extremely comfortable saying the narrative is mostly nonsense. Plenty of people become rich not through intelligence but through being around other rich people and getting better access to the market. Plenty of "smart" rich people often grew up with constant attention devoted to training their brains to solve the kinds of problems that are rewarded by capitalism.

All of which is to say that I understand that you come by your view honestly, but I think perhaps you've been socialized into accepting a particular narrative. And in my experience it's very clearly a narrative that exists to justify inequality as a post-hoc rationalization, rather than a statement that has anything to do with the reality of how most people experience our economic system. The narrative is a collective emotional defense response to protect our egos and tell us we're well-off because we're special. But if we can get ego defense out of the way, the truth is pretty clear that we're mostly just lucky.

I apologize if any of this activates your defenses. It's hard to feel like maybe we've been lied to our whole lives, and we all deserve better than that.

Wishing you the space and freedom to find some truth.

9

TheNextBattalion t1_j7r4jse wrote

I think a lot of people misunderstand "more likely" to mean "will definitely," and overreact from there.

That said, I read the article where they indicate controlling for family history, so my comment is moot.

Overall, though given the facts that some mental disorders do have a genetic predisposition, most people marry/couple in the same socioeconomic status, and education systems tend to be hurdle-some for people with mental disorders, over time we should see these kinds of effects start to emerge over a number of post-industrial generations.

Equality-minded people might try to find ways of counterbalancing the effects of lower mental health, lest poorer kids be trapped from leaving the cycle. Supremacist-minded people might devilishly try to cement those effects into custom or law, like the nobility of old, lest their kids fall and break the positive cycle. We can't avoid facing truths just because abusive people are going to abuse them. They'll find any ol' excuse and will end up having to be quashed no matter what.

3