During the Let’s Gro Festival 2017 we wanted to put in the agenda some issues related to mental health. Our aim was to point out the importance of wellbeing when assessing the “health and happiness” of the citizens. Our theoretical framework comes from psychoanalysis. Our challenge has been to translate the complexity of some concepts into a simpler, concrete language which can be useful to understand certain urban / social issues.
To achieve this we focused on three aspects
The Pop-up Gym and its particular aesthetics allowed the public to be part of a familiar setting (a Gym with table tennis, yoga mats, etc) but at the same time encounter some disruptive elements (A psychoanalysis couch). Our objective was to invite people to ask themselves the question about the mental dimension of health.
There were multiple reactions. Interestingly, most adults were a little shy to ask questions, and the stronger links with the installation were built by children. They were very curious and invited the parents to investigate and become part of the space.
We also organised some inspirational talks and film screening.
“The art of living a Happy Urban Life”. (Claudio, Jorn): We discussed the limits to “perfect happiness” and the strategies to deal with the discomfort of modern urban life.
“The psychology of movement”. (Claudio) Exploring the relationship of the body and well being and how different practices on the body can have a positive effect on subjectivity.
“The Happy Film” (Claudio, Jorn, Lior). (Add venue). The objective of the film was to trigger some ideas about happiness. We then had a brief debate on this.
Students were the most interested on this activities.
Our ideas on mental health include “creating links between the citizens as a way of strengthen social fabric of urban areas”, so we wanted everyone to get involved. We set up different activities as a way of showing what the community had to offer. This activities can stimulate social bonding, as well of having a positive impact on wellbeing and mental health. We included a sample class of Yoga, Calisthenics and Mindfulness.
We also invited people to be part to the Gym installation with the “One minute Therapy”: Going through 4 stations of the gym which started lying in the psychoanalysis couch and thinking about their frustrations. This gave people the opportunity to talk about their feelings after the “one minute therapy” and describe how they dealt with their issues in their everyday life. Again we could see the reaction of children, who were more open to interact and play.
Through these activities, it became clear that on the one hand, the community is actively seeking for resources to deal with the problems they face in their everyday life. However, sometimes there is a limited knowledge of what Groningen has to offer.
Also, psychological therapies are still seen as taboo.
- What does the exercise consist of?
The exercise started as a public intervention. It was based on the elements of the Let’s Gro Gym installation. In the “Gym” we could find the usual things from a Gym, or a “fitness” venue and some “disruptive” elements: A psychoanalysis couch, a colorful fluffy boxing bag, a mirror with the inscription “what you see is what you don’t get”.
The idea was to confront people with these elements and engage them to ask questions about the relationship between workout and physical health, as well as “working out” for mental health.
We then invited people to be part of the “1 minute therapy” i.e. making up an exercise, based on those elements. Experiences like these have been made, as a way of putting in motion a metaphoric idea.
For example the Weaving project at the Freud museum. (dream weaving project)
Of course this is not a real “Therapy” but a way to discover the feelings when going through the different parts.
Stage 1) "Lay in the couch and think about your frustrations. You can share it with me, or keep them to yourself”. The couch is part of the psychoanalytic framework. The method invented by Freud is still used in psychoanalysis sessions. The technique is called free association, where the patient is invited to say whatever comes to mind without judging it. The patient can’t see the analyst (therapist). We tried to grasp some of that experience by inviting them to close their eyes and focus on their frustrations.
Stage 2) “Now get up and Beat Frustration” By punching the bag we can allow them to experience the liberation by means of physical exercise. “And then become friends with you frustrations, give a hug to the bag”. The fluffy material and the “becoming friends with your frustrations” represented by the bag meant accepting that which is part of our everyday discomfort and we can’t change.
Stage 3) “Sit in the yoga mat, close your eyes and breath. Do nothing”. With the 10 second meditation, in a lotus-like position we wanted to transmit the power of meditation. Again, this easy task of doing nothing but breathing for 10 seconds in a crowded public space seems easy, but could be challenging.
Stage 4) “Look at yourself in the mirror and say thank you to yourself”. Looking at ourselves in the mirror may seem like an easy, automatic task. This time, people were confronted with the message “WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU DON’T GET” in the mirror.
This can elicit multiple interpretations “what you see is not the real thing” “what is see is what you don’t understand”, etc. Our aim was to question this idea of “image”. Confusing our “being” with the image of ourselves has a strong impact on how we perceive reality. We wanted to question precisely this idea of self image.
- What do you mean exactly with: "it seems that we treat this frustrations too often as mental problems, while they are actually life itself?"
This is what helped me decide to be part of a project like the Let’s Gro Gym. I thought it was a great opportunity to start questioning some concepts which are widely accepted in the Western World and which have disastrous consequences on the wellbeing of people. We are constantly bombarded by messages saying there is something wrong with us, that we should take a pill for this and we have to be “cured” of that. This is based on a medical paradigm, which has been taken as a model to start finding “mental pathologies” on all of us. Hybrids “scientifically explained” by neuroscience, CBT (cognitive behavioral theory), psychiatry, etc have pushed our “normal discomfort” or the structural unhappiness of being alive into something that we need to address, as we do with a physical illness.
- Is it based on existing theories?
I’m a psychoanalyst. My theoretical framework comes from psychoanalysis and I use psychoanalytic discourse as a way of deconstructing other discourses and thinking about creative ways to deal with what doesn’t quite work in society. The exercise isn’t psychoanalysis, or therapeutic in itself. However, it aimed at presenting some of the tools we have as a community to deal with this “normal discomfort”. Psychoanalysis is one (the couch). Physical exercise is another (punching bag). Yoga (mats). Meditation, etc. I imagined the exercise as a way of inviting people to explore. Explore things which are available in their communities and are a safer way of dealing with what does not work in their lives.
For psychoanalysis there is no “individual mental health” as there is no clear separation between individuals. In a way individual psychology is also social psychology. Mental health always include the social dimension. We inviting people to accept some frustrations as a part of their lives. And we encourage social bonding and community empowering, to deal with these frustrations.
And In my quote “… best for each individual subject:” I would take out the word “individual”. What works best for "each subject”. And if that sounds too obscure, just leave “for each person”.
In big parts of the western world, it seems we treat these frustrations too often as mental problems, while they are actually life itself.
This is here:
Thought it was a great opportunity to start questioning some concepts which are widely accepted in the Western World and which have disastrous consequences on the wellbeing of people. We are constantly bombarded by messages saying there is something wrong with us, that we should take a pill for this and we have to be “cured” of that. This is based on a medical paradigm, which has been taken as a model to start finding “mental pathologies” on all of us. Hybrids “scientifically explained” by neuroscience, CBT (cognitive behavioral theory), psychiatry, etc have pushed our “normal discomfort” or the structural unhappiness of being alive into something that we need to address, as we do with a physical illness.
To add some thoughts on this. This is the tendency in many countries. To give you a concrete example: There is a tendency to accept that “depression” is an “illness” that you get and can be cured. With the consequence of treating “normal sadness” as a sign of an illness that needs to be treated. Normal sadness conceived as “life itself” i.e. part of a normal, healthy life. Psychoanalysis has a complete different view. As a matter of fact, its argued even if the concept of depression as it is conceived by psychiatry actually works.
(Link to a paper to support this idea http://psychopathology.imedpub.com/the-failings-of-depression-a-review-of-lacanian-psychoanalytic-critiques.php?aid=20594)
The paradox of living a happy urban life is letting go of seeking perfect happiness.”
The paradox: To be happy, we have to accept we can’t be (completely) happiness.
There’s also an URBAN paradox. An idea presented by Freud in 1930 in “Civilisation and its discontents” which is very accurate today: We need someone to help us from day one, We can not survive alone. However, living in a society means that we have to accept prohibitions and that our peers are also a source of our suffering. We then have to accept this paradox. Living in the human society is a source of discomfort and pleasure at the same time. We have to learn how to deal with this paradox, to reduce the unnecessary suffering and embrace the good things society can bring to us.