Things that are not in the DSM
Jul. 21st, 2021 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitoutOrthorexia is not in the DSM. Wikipedia has an article about it; it’s a pretty interesting frame and one I’ve been thinking about on occasion over the years since I first heard about it.
In the course of poking around at thrifting and whether there was any kind of significant trend there or not (there does seem to be a trend, so I guess this is Gen-Z’s vintage moment, and it’s called Re-Commerce or Cottagecore or whatever) (and wow, the ZPG crowd is strong in this one!), I got to wondering if there was a sustainable fashion version of Orthorexia. I wasn’t sure what to call it, and it won’t ever be in the DSM, but it’s exactly what you would expect it to be be: OCD symptoms run through Today’s Frame.
https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/0818/ecorexia-are-you-obsessed-with-being-eco-friendly.aspx
That isn’t just about fashion choices, tho. Also, that comment about birdbath water is a real health risk.
In general, I would argue that if you are rooting around in someone else’s garbage, and you are not looking for something you accidentally dropped in there, or something to prosecute, extort, blackmail or scandal them for, you should go see a therapist and get that fixed. Exceptions for people who are actually processing waste and recycling streams for research or commercial purposes, obviously! And you can do research independently.
I’m a big fan of people living their values. On the other hand, I also recognize that I could be happily living my values and trying to run someone else’s life. So there really do have to be some boundaries. We have various institutions and organizations to help us implement things that we can’t do individually, and they reflect our shared values. Also, super awesome — again, do need to have some boundaries!
Lots of voluntary organizations are places where we experiment with new ways of doing things, and new ways of valuing how we do things, before we start scaling those up and making them mandatory. And many, many, many experiments don’t work out super well, have effects that are opposite of what we intended, etc. Voluntary organizations are kinda by their nature … voluntary. They can’t require other people to do things (generally!). This creates a look-for-the-lost-keys-under-the-streetlight impulse, even if you know you dropped them somewhere in the dark shadows.
It feels really good to look at what we do in terms of source reduction and recycling and reuse and so forth and believe that we are making meaningful steps towards mitigating very real problems that we are creating with our climate / ecosphere. This is probably optimistic, and we would likely be better off redirecting (some of) that energy to sponsor less-voluntaristic solutions that actually will make a difference.
In the course of poking around at thrifting and whether there was any kind of significant trend there or not (there does seem to be a trend, so I guess this is Gen-Z’s vintage moment, and it’s called Re-Commerce or Cottagecore or whatever) (and wow, the ZPG crowd is strong in this one!), I got to wondering if there was a sustainable fashion version of Orthorexia. I wasn’t sure what to call it, and it won’t ever be in the DSM, but it’s exactly what you would expect it to be be: OCD symptoms run through Today’s Frame.
https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/0818/ecorexia-are-you-obsessed-with-being-eco-friendly.aspx
That isn’t just about fashion choices, tho. Also, that comment about birdbath water is a real health risk.
In general, I would argue that if you are rooting around in someone else’s garbage, and you are not looking for something you accidentally dropped in there, or something to prosecute, extort, blackmail or scandal them for, you should go see a therapist and get that fixed. Exceptions for people who are actually processing waste and recycling streams for research or commercial purposes, obviously! And you can do research independently.
I’m a big fan of people living their values. On the other hand, I also recognize that I could be happily living my values and trying to run someone else’s life. So there really do have to be some boundaries. We have various institutions and organizations to help us implement things that we can’t do individually, and they reflect our shared values. Also, super awesome — again, do need to have some boundaries!
Lots of voluntary organizations are places where we experiment with new ways of doing things, and new ways of valuing how we do things, before we start scaling those up and making them mandatory. And many, many, many experiments don’t work out super well, have effects that are opposite of what we intended, etc. Voluntary organizations are kinda by their nature … voluntary. They can’t require other people to do things (generally!). This creates a look-for-the-lost-keys-under-the-streetlight impulse, even if you know you dropped them somewhere in the dark shadows.
It feels really good to look at what we do in terms of source reduction and recycling and reuse and so forth and believe that we are making meaningful steps towards mitigating very real problems that we are creating with our climate / ecosphere. This is probably optimistic, and we would likely be better off redirecting (some of) that energy to sponsor less-voluntaristic solutions that actually will make a difference.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 07:51 pm (UTC)I think this is an example of the way the culture of individualism affects even people who are trying to think about the bigger picture. It's a bit like an autoimmune disorder, where the part of you that's designed to take action to defend yourself ends up attacking yourself. And of course being in a society where your choices are artificially constrained in a way that pushes you toward unethical consumerism (like not being able to find stuff that isn't produced with enslaved/near-enslaved labor) is anxiety-provoking in its own right, which can contribute to a downward spiral (or be a focal point for an already-occurring mental problem).
To the extent that individual behavior does make a meaningful difference, I am a big believer in encouraging everyone to cut back a bit rather than trying to do All the Perfect Things myself. It's just so obvious that a million people all using one less plastic bag does away with the need for a million bags, which is far more than I can save if I give up using plastic bags for the rest of my life (at least I hope it is).
A friend of mine once dated a guy who was way into minimalism. She had to bring a towel with her when she went over to his house, because he had one towel. I forget if she had to bring a pillow, but it wouldn't surprise me.
Also you can not have plastic bags
Date: 2021-07-21 08:32 pm (UTC)I really loved going to Amsterdam in 2002, and learning that if I didn’t bring my own bag, I’d have to buy one. The one I would get — if I bought one, which I didn’t, because I had a bag — would be a really nice reusable plastic bag, and cost a quarter euro. _This_ is the kind of think about it at a different level that I have in mind. Instead, what do we do? We ban plastic, switch back to paper, and then have a pandemic and stop letting people even use their own reusable bags and people switch to having their groceries delivered and all of it results in massive use of single-use items … when all of that was pointless because the damn thing was airborne the whole time.
I’m pretty sure that someone who does not have a towel for a guest is a person who is going to be deeply problematic in any kind of ongoing relationship more complicated than nodding as you see each other walking on the street in opposite directions.
Interesting to think of it as a “culture of individualism” problem. Maybe? I think of it as a guilt / morality / character frame, and I generally dislike those.
Re: Also you can not have plastic bags
Date: 2021-07-21 11:50 pm (UTC)And I agree about making it easier at the source. The other day I ran into a variety of sunscreen that was reef-safe AND came in a tin AND it was on sale for eight bucks right at eye level in the grocery store. (Badger brand.) Sign. Me. Up. I just hope they aren't blowing them out.