Author Archives: danieljkoconnell

We Are Here To Help, If You Want It

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My social media feed is often visited by strange pieces of propaganda, although they hold aspects of subjective truth, they largely present a shame inducing stigmatization toward seeking professional help. In an attempt to transcend stigma, articles can actually provide a form of normalization that is dangerous and limiting. Not all mental illness is the same and not all mental health provision is equal, but opinions that don’t consider the larger paradigm are problematic. Continue reading →

Pulling the Wool off Social Work

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A longstanding and slightly comical criticism of social work is that it is wooly. At times it can appear unclear and unfocused, in others it is all encompassing but overtly soft in nature – the rub being that social workers sometimes struggle to successfully address and countenance issues of harm, because we are often trying too hard to be nice. Continue reading →

On Being a Bitch

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I’ve only memorably been called a bitch twice in my near 40 years: once by a particularly unpleasant band of South East London hoodlums for standing up to their invite to violence with nonviolence; perplexing the bunch of them; the second ‘bitching’ occurred today, and it was a lady on the Twitters – lauding me for suggesting that the calling (and baiting) of women as bitches was misogynistic and something to be avoided. Let’s take a look at what that’s all about. Continue reading →

The Psychology of Otherness, Outsiders, and Enemies.

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Media outlets (reporting news or social broadcasts) are dominated by stories relating to otherness; whether it be racism, war, misogyny, mass shooting, political divides, or social justice issues — the action/inaction dynamic of such reporting — being that a story dominates the news cycle then fades — appears like an off-beat pendulum of a clock that will never truly tell us what time it is. The times are changing, they are always in flux, but we might not see a true advancement of that change-potential unless we consider how the psychology of dehumanizing our fellows may just keep us stagnant. Continue reading →

Meaning

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Consider this, in your search for meaning in your life: The sole purpose of your life is to help one person, truly help them. You will not know who and you will not know when, but you will realise it when it occurs. It may occur early in your life or later, this does not matter. Until or after it occurs you are to simply, and kindly, enjoy your time on this planet. If it comes to be that you help more than one person, consider yourself called from retirement for your exemplary prior performance.
Remember, someone will also help you. In this way, we find each other.

The Rise of Anti-intellectualism: Spirituality Vs. Psychiatry

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I was recently made aware of this ‘article’ appearing in various forms through social media – now I say ‘article’ because I am generously applying the term to what should be referred to as propaganda. The issue of mental health policy has been in the forefront of minds recently – bombastic reporting, social media mobbing, and good ol’ stigma come in droves when tragedy strikes. That specific issue is so emotionally entrenched that I almost dare not address it, but I do feel it is connected to this post – in the same way that social media drove the anti-vaccination issue, and the autism-misinformation ‘debate’. I am of the opinion that articles like the above trend because sections of the populous are attempting to find meaning, and even fault, within a system they do not understand.

That makes such things even more dangerous, because they are disingenuous at their core, and I’m going to tell you why. Continue reading →

Don’t You Know What You’ve Done?

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The following statement is true: I am a kind and considerate male who is kind to and considerate of others.

The following statement is true: I am a kind and considerate male who is sometimes impatient and inconsiderate of others.

Both are true, no conflict here, we are simply able to hold multiple truths about ourselves at once; yet one I should wish to keep, while the other I wish to dispel through reinforcement of the former.

Here we have a fine key to behavior modification: tangible, observable, and measurable choice – self defined. Others are able to witness my traversing between types of behavior, count the transgressions, and either empathically or directly measure the trespass. I am also aware of this, almost inescapably so; I know what I am, what I have done. Continue reading →