Personally for me it seems like global mental health should be way higher of a priority than mental health just restricted to EA community. This is not to say we shouldn’t have resources for EAs in terms of mental health, but we should avoid tribalism in thinking that mental needs for EAs are so different from rest of the population and so much more high-priority than general population.
Often, when people talk about mental health on conferences, the conversation shifts to ‘how to ensure better mental health among EAs’ and often the response is psychotherapy services and therapists who are tailored to EA community. Being a psychotherapist is definitely a good career choice, but not the most high-impact one as you are restricted to mostly benefiting your own patients. Being an EA-only therapist is even more restrictive in terms of impact you could have, because you are missing out on a lot of people who might need your help more than EA people. Choosing patients or a therapist just by their belonging to EA community for me seems like incredibly unwise decision, especially in a world where mental health causes so much suffering.
Very much agree with this. The fact that people seem to interpret “mental health is a problem” as “mental health for effective altruists is a problem” illustrates my point about the odd attitude
Personally for me it seems like global mental health should be way higher of a priority than mental health just restricted to EA community. This is not to say we shouldn’t have resources for EAs in terms of mental health, but we should avoid tribalism in thinking that mental needs for EAs are so different from rest of the population and so much more high-priority than general population.
Often, when people talk about mental health on conferences, the conversation shifts to ‘how to ensure better mental health among EAs’ and often the response is psychotherapy services and therapists who are tailored to EA community. Being a psychotherapist is definitely a good career choice, but not the most high-impact one as you are restricted to mostly benefiting your own patients. Being an EA-only therapist is even more restrictive in terms of impact you could have, because you are missing out on a lot of people who might need your help more than EA people. Choosing patients or a therapist just by their belonging to EA community for me seems like incredibly unwise decision, especially in a world where mental health causes so much suffering.
Very much agree with this. The fact that people seem to interpret “mental health is a problem” as “mental health for effective altruists is a problem” illustrates my point about the odd attitude
Absolutely, glad other people share the argument as often I feel like effective mental health means mental health for EAs for many people!