Thursday, February 27, 2014

Goal Setting for Depression and Anxiety with the Fun Activity Catalogue Is Not Culturallly Competent










I'm taking a "Depression & Anxiety Management" course offered by my healthcare provider ( Group Health Cooperative ), which is taught by trained/licensed mental healthcare professionals.

I was given this handout called:

Fun Activities Catalogue

http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/docs/Info-Fun%20Activities%20Catalogue.pdf

It lists various activities one finds as "WORK, LEISURE or SELF-CARE"

WORK are activities that you have to do and they're a part of life. Sometimes you dread doing them, but if you choose to not do it, you would.

LEISURE are activities that you love to do - recreational, etc. and you choose to do them.

SELF-CARE are activities you do to take care of yourself and generally enjoy doing them.

Sometimes there's a blur between LEISURE and SELF-CARE. These items intermingle.

When one is depressed from various reasons, they cannot see anything that gives them any pleasure. That is a sign of ANHEDONIA - lack of pleasure.

To build around that, find things on the list you love to do (LEISURE) and things you do for SELF-CARE and work on these items to set goals to achieve.

I asked the question about TRAUMA, but I didn't explain it in context due to the nature of the course and my first time being there. But this was in reference to the Zimmerman and Dunn cases: Black teenage boys, doing what they love to do, and some lunatic kills them for it. How can anyone set goals with having a fear of that?

The answer I got was not culturally competent.

I was told that you build small to build up your confidence, and explore down the line if you can redo some of the things you enjoy. It is setting yourself up for success. 

Nice clinical textbook answer for those with privilege and agency. For those without that: Namely diverse groups that are under oppression due to bigotry, this nice sheet, "Fun Activity Catalogue" while helpful, needs reframing in context. 


Can the tripartite system work for peoeple who have mental health condition as a seen as a biological issue? Yes. 

Can it work when adding the layer of health disparities, most injustice, poverty and environment help with a "Fun Activity Catalogue"? A RESOUNDING NO! 

Not if the answer is piecemeal out your fears to regain your confidence in doing something after a severely traumatic event - such that suffered by Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis.

Sorry, but it is not. Professionals teaching this need to add context to it, or diverse populations are not going to do it.