Root Shock

Healing & Liberation With Hannah Tytus
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What even IS health in late-stage capitalism? Hosted by Hannah Tytus, Root Shock explores healing and liberation through cultural critique, anthropology, and lived experience. We examine how medicine, health, and wellness are shaped by systems of power. We’re asking who defines “health,” who benefits from those definitions, and how we might bring more justice to our collective healing. rootshock.substack.com

Episodes

  1. Depression in Japan (Part 2): Transcultural Psychiatry with Dr. Hiroe Hu

    JAN 12

    Depression in Japan (Part 2): Transcultural Psychiatry with Dr. Hiroe Hu

    “Historically, mindfulness is embedded in an understanding of collective belonging and interconnectedness, not just as a tool for self-regulating stress. What often gets left out in Western versions are the broader ethical and communal dimensions of contemplative practices.” -Dr. Hiroe Hu In Part 2 of our deep dive into transcultural psychiatry, we’re joined by Dr. Hiroe Hu. Hiroe is a practicing psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Born in Japan, she studied Contemplative Psychology at Brown University before completing her medical residency at Georgetown MedStar Hospital in Washington, DC. In this episode, we deepen our understanding of explanatory models of disease. We explore what happens when mindfulness is exported from the East into Western cultures and frameworks and, even more interestingly, what happens when those practices are then “reverse imported” back to the East in a Westernized package. And of course, we talk about all of these mental health and meditative traditions in the context of capitalism. We talk about power: how capital drives medical research and how translating culturally bound practices into the clinical trial structure changes their texture. We talk about tech-bro meditation competitions and what we’d each say to Mr. Elon Musk if we could get a trillionaire on the therapy couch. (Babe, what are you so afraid of?) Finally, we’re visioning our ideal, pluralistic healthcare futures, where a socially conscious psychology is the norm and everybody gets to heal holistically. Share, Please! If this made you pause or rethink something, subscribe to the show, share it with a curious friend, or leave a cute little comment. This episode was produced by Matthew Kendrick. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rootshock.substack.com

    22 min
  2. Depression in Japan (Part 1): How Big Pharma Changed Mental Health

    12/17/2025

    Depression in Japan (Part 1): How Big Pharma Changed Mental Health

    In the early 2000s, pharmaceutical companies looked to Japan with yearning dollar-bills in their eyes. They had a hot new antidepressant just off the assembly line: Paxil. But the Japanese people weren’t into Paxil like that. In fact, they thought the American idea of depression was kind of bizarre. Nobody wanted to buy the company’s drug :( With no market, and an expensive product—what’s a corp to do? Invent a market, of course! This is the story of how a company invented a disease to sell the cure, shifting Japan’s mental health landscape in the process. In this first episode of Root Shock, we explore how antidepressants were positioned as the answer to distress in a cultural context where sadness had long been understood through social, moral, and relational frameworks rather than biomedical ones. This is not an argument against mental health care or medication. It is an inquiry into how economic incentives shape which forms of suffering become visible, legible, and treatable. Drawing on anthropology and political economy, we zoom out to ask larger questions about mental health in the context of capitalism. What happens when the authority to define illness is closely tied to markets designed to sell solutions? Key Takeaways * Sadness became pathologized in order to make its treatment marketable. * Mental health categories are shaped by culture, language, and economic forces. * Pharmaceutical power influences not only medicine, but how societies interpret suffering. Sources Watters, E. (2010). Crazy like us: The globalization of the American psyche. Free Press. Kitanaka, J. (2012). Depression in Japan: Psychiatric cures for a society in distress. Princeton University Press. Share & Subscribe If this made you pause or rethink something, subscribe to the show, share it with a curious friend, or leave a little comment. Perfection is the enemy of done, my friends. So here we are. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rootshock.substack.com

    17 min
  • 2 Episodes

About

What even IS health in late-stage capitalism? Hosted by Hannah Tytus, Root Shock explores healing and liberation through cultural critique, anthropology, and lived experience. We examine how medicine, health, and wellness are shaped by systems of power. We’re asking who defines “health,” who benefits from those definitions, and how we might bring more justice to our collective healing. rootshock.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Healing & Liberation With Hannah Tytus
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Hannah
  • Show Website
    Root Shock