major depressive disorder (MDD) ( Archived) (22)

At one time 'occupational therapy' was indeed the order of the day ...

My ole mum nursed in a mental facility for many years and 'such work as the individuals were capable of' was seen to be of profound assistance in helping people to manage their own states and in some cases even formed a route to such recovery as was possible.

'Basket weaving' was one of those occupation and there's no doubt of it's therapeutic value - it demands concentration 'in the moment' ... if the person is concentrating on a task at hand then they're not (for that period) involved with their own internal states (of disorder / trauma etc) and as well there's a 'finished product' at the end which is the tangible result of their own efforts and developing skill level.

"The need to be productive" exists in all of us from a very young age ... it's seen, for example, when children want to help their parents and parents who take time to share their skills ( at a child appropriate level) usually have the best outcomes for their kids.

Nowadays The System provides little for people who are a disadvantage 'mentally' and, as The System is run by accountants and economists it's regrettable that there is so little real concern (at the highest levels it's about $ cost effectiveness) That not only hurts those in need, it also results in horrendous burnout amongst those who are employed to care and 'deliver' such service as they are able. The results can be seen in the increasing numbers of people who year on year are suffering and being declared as 'sufferers of mental un-wellness'

That's before making any mention of the high rates of iatrogenic illness created by psychiatry and it's supporting Allied Industries

mmm, just a quick note ...l've found a lot of "buck passing" by solicitors/public trust ...Public Trust & Quacks milking fee's from patients ...inadequate diagnosis or investigation ...unscrupulous relatives allowed to milk money/thieve off the mentally disadvantaged by those in authority, etc, etc ...bit of a learning curve over the last 32 years of friendship with a chronic schizophrenic/autistic person.
ps. l have never understood the rational behind issuing these impaired/heavily medicated people Driver's Licenses ...they fail to give way/make terrible decisions/don't plan rationally

At one time life was very simple and equally social, and the jobs which needed doing ticked the psychological boxes particularly for men. However can the estate agent or social media manager come home with the same therapeutic effect of a hard days work? Or is the nature of work built-in to the economy of 2017 by definition a humiliation in a lonely and predatory society?

Sould we start giving everyone free money so they can invent themselves a job to do thus creating a kind of "peoples' economy" which piggy backs off AI and automation? It's not designed to pay its own way - it's based on free money - because it'll never materially compete with the robots nonetheless the "people's economy" exists for social reasons. The best social welfare programme is a job.

instead of bailing out the banks in 2008 we should have given everyone free money straight off the printing press and paid for it not in debt, but by inflation spread across the entire of society. The lower classes get £500 a month for free and lose for example £200 in inflated cost of living and tax, the upper middle class gets the same £500 and loses all of it in tax and inflation, and the super rich gets £500 and loses £1000.

The added bonus is that this would inflate away much of the debt we already owe. The banks would likely never stand for it, and that's why we'd have to nationalise them like we did in 2008 - on our terms this time, not theirs.