Can't muster the energy to follow the Fauci hearing play by play. It's so utterly exhausting and depressing. Which I guess is half the point of this theater. Tuning out feels both like a defeat and the only sane response
Owen Whooley
@owenwho.bsky.social
Sociologist embedded in front-line mental health work. Writing about why the “system” isn’t really a system—especially when knowledge is fragmented. Author of 3 books including A Mad Mess (U Chicago Press, Dec) | @University of New Mexico
I wish I could tell Apple or Siri or whatever authority governs my iPhone, that I will never intend to write “fir”. The tree is quite lovely but it’s irrelevant to my life.
Sociologist of mental health here. My two cents. Two things can be true: overmedication is a real problem, but RFK Jr. is not the one to lead needed reforms. We need a measured approach. These meds are lifesaving for many, but also we’re too quick to resort to them. RFK Jr. is anything but measured.
Kennedy Starts a Push to Help Americans Quit Antidepressants
nytimes.com
I read this article looking for the why of this, but all we get is a vague gesture toward winning back now-Trump-skeptical Rogan voters (which seems at best, half-hearted). What I want is some sort of political economy analysis. Anyone have one?
A Long, Strange Trip: How the G.O.P. Came to Embrace Psychedelic Drugs
nytimes.com
Add hospital mergers to the list of factors increasing your HC premiums.
Opinion | This Is the Biggest Culprit for High Health Care Spending
nytimes.com
Having observed a psychiatric emergency department for my upcoming book, this season’s portrayal of burnout, moral injury, and workplace violence felt spot on. Systemic dysfunction overwhelms and undersupports the medical workers we expect to be superhuman.
On ‘The Pitt,’ the Lingering Effects of Trauma Take the Spotlight
nytimes.com
I’m interested in how “system” language obscures the actual nature of mental healthcare.
The “mental health system” implies coherence. What exists instead is a set of institutions that rarely share the same definition of the problem.
I’m a sociologist studying how mental health care breaks down when knowledge is uncertain and institutions don’t align. My new book, A Mad Mess (University of Chicago Press, Dec), looks at why the mental health “system” isn’t a system at all.
A Mad Mess
A sobering assessment of the systematic failures of mental health work.The United States is in the midst of a mental health crisis that cannot be ignored. Its effects are visible in overcrowded emergency rooms, homeless encampments, and frequent police encounters responding to people with serious mental illness. And yet, the many ways we attempt to support people with mental illness—from medical care to housing support to basic hygiene—seem to never take meaningful hold. All this despite the tireless work of professionals who attempt to help people bring together the pieces of a life. The problem is not in any individual effort to ameliorate the problem; it’s the many ways these programs fail to work together. For those with serious mental illness, and those who work to ameliorate it, there is no system. There is only mess. In A Mad Mess, sociologist Owen Whooley uncovers the exasperating barriers, bureaucratic mismatches, and threadbare resources that have made a mess of what should be a supportive system. Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico—a city whose struggles echo communities nationwide— the book reveals the challenges mental health workers face daily, from tedious paperwork to occasional violence. Whooley interviewed mental health workers at two local mental health services organizations, the specialized behavioral health division of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), and a psychiatric emergency department at the University of New Mexico Hospital. Despite mostly good intentions and sometimes heroic efforts, he shows why this important work so often ends in failure. Written with deep sympathy and unflinching honesty, A Mad Mess reveals how the lack of a cohesive mental health system obstructs critical care and places roadblocks before front-line mental health workers at every turn. Most critically, for those who suffer from severe mental illness, these setbacks are a constant reminder that the institutions charged with helping them have left them on their own.
press.uchicago.edu
What happens when you cut funding for essential mentla health programs. I studied a local Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team here in ABQ for my upcoming book and the tough work they do is essential to keeping people alive.
Idaho Cut Services for People With Schizophrenia. Then the Deaths Began.
nytimes.com
One top of the Medicaid cuts, this is devastating. I've been studying these kinds of services - community homelessness and mental illness progams - for years. They've always been underfunded and perpetually in crisis mode, but the Trump admin is an existential threat to an already broken "system."
Trump administration sends letter wiping out addiction, mental health grants
The Trump administration sent hundreds of letters Tuesday terminating federal grants supporting mental health and drug addiction services. The cuts could total as much as $2 billion.
npr.org
On one hand, god I don’t want him here. On the other, go ahead and waste your precious little time.
Trump coming to Albuquerque to hold rally on Thursday — KOAT
Location of Republican candidate's appearance hasn't been announced yet
apple.news
Times OpEds predicting the election based on…check notes…Nate Silver’s guts and James Carville’s feels. We’ve jumped the shark folks
Relishing voting early against this orange menace for the 3rd time
I love Bsky and agree with the criticism of NYTimes coverage. But I think we all are overestimating its ability to shape the national discourse alone. Or influence the remaining 6 undecided voters. Seems like we’re a little too drunk on the “paper of record” kool aid.
Hate that we live in a country where we’re forcibly reminded everyday of the existence of Trump and Musk. So exhausting to have so much attention trained on these narcissistic man-babies
I guess I lack the requisite verstehen and imagination to understand how anyone could believe that Dems control the weather and could manufacture a hurricane. WTF is this crazy talk. I’m sorry but it is just so so so dumb.
Annoyed that my reactions to polling news (good or bad) run exactly counter to my reasoned critical perspective on political polling.
Qualitative researchers: does anyone know of a good introduction video or resource on AtlasTI? One that covers the basics of coding in the program. I have a student new to Atlas who’s looking for one.
Somedays writing a book is about mustering the courage just to open the doc. Sigh. Let’s see where this leads today.
Thank you to those who have followed me in the past few days. As a recovering Twitter user I’m still figuring out how I’ll use this platform. But generally I’m interested in dissecting and understanding the challenges and failings of our mental health ‘system.’
Reskeet if you have never fobbed off a review onto a hapless grad student
The Gender & Sexuality Studies program at Northwestern University is hiring a tenure-line Assistant Professor of Trans Studies! Please share far & wide with your academic networks. The deadline for applications is October 23. Happy to answer any questions. #HigherEd #AcademicSky
JOB POST: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF TRANS STUDIES: Gender & Sexuality Studies Program - Northwestern Un...
gendersexuality.northwestern.edu
🚨Academic job alert🚨 My department, UNM sociology, is hiring for a TT assistant professor position in crim and race. Come join our wonderful community!
Assistant Professor of Sociology
The Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of New Mexico invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Cr...
unm.csod.com
Just discovered that my first book was gobbled up in the training of Meta’s Generative AI. Here’s hoping my egregious overuse of the word “epistemic” induces many hallucinations
I’m both impressed with - and concerned by - many of my academic peers’ ability to post across 3,4,5 different platforms. I can barely muster the energy/courage to open one. This new (hopefully temporary) normal is too much