Johann Hari Profile picture
Jan 6, 2019 10 tweets 2 min read Read on X
I see ‘I, Daniel Blake’ is on tv tonight. I have an autistic friend who I have gone to benefits appeals with & I can tell you the reality really is this bad. #IDanielBlake
The judge and ‘medical expert’ were shockingly ignorant about autism. The Judge said: “it says you are autistic but you are clearly very intelligent.” As if they’re opposite.
They didn’t know what sensory overload was; they didn’t understand panic attacks; I had to intervene and explain was autism is because they seemed to know nothing at all about it.
All this happened while my friend was shaking and rocking next to me because it was so humiliating and traumatic
Some of the individuals were decent people but in no way is this an informed system designed in good faith to figure out who needs help & support.
It seemed to be maximally humiliating. And all driven by ideological austerity. Cameron & Osborne did this.
Imagine being made to feel you could be rendered homeless by a system so ignorant that it doesn’t know what your long-established, medically-documented disability even is.
Ordinary British people - even quite right-wing ones - would be shocked & disgusted if they had seen how my friend (who has been diagnosed with a serious disability) was treated.
Afterwards I sent everyone on the panel the excellent book Neurotribes by @stevesilberman in the hope they will know something about autism when the next person comes before them...
But it’s not a personal failing. The system is designed to throw people off to save money, not to make fair assessments

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More from @johannhari101

Feb 1
This is my first time looking at Twitter in a year. The world is full of joyful & meaningful things to do. Talk to people; read books; walk in nature; dance. Twitter is not one of those things. It coarsens & degrades everyone who heavily uses it. Spend your one precious life well
The 4 mental states that Twitter most often stirs in its users are sarcasm, exasperation, contempt, and rage. We all have those feelings sometimes, & in small doses they can be healthy - but they are psychologically disastrous modes to live in over the longer term.
Healthy modes to live in are: curiosity, openness, compassion. Build your life around encouraging these states as much as possible. To do that, you need to take yourself off Twitter, a site that systematically smothers them
Read 11 tweets
Sep 17, 2020
Whoah! I just got an email explaining my TED talks have now, in total, been viewed over 70 million times. People are clearly hungry for a more compassionate and loving approach to addiction, depression & anxiety. Here’s the addiction talk ted.com/talks/johann_h…
Here’s my talk about why depression and anxiety are rising – and why we need to stop insulting this signal by saying it’s a sign of weakness or madness, & start listening to it: ted.com/talks/johann_h…
And here’s the Facebook link, where my talk about how the opposite of addiction is connection has been viewed 49 million times facebook.com/TED/videos/262…
Read 6 tweets
Sep 12, 2020
A year ago today I learned my friend Jamie Janson died by suicide. He taught me many things in the 10 years I knew him but I am think of one in particular today dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7…
Jamie was from an extremely wealthy background - but he chose to seek meaning instead of comfort, possessions, stuff.
He lived in refugee camps to help people fleeing the worst things that can happen to people, he went to Syria to fight for the Kurds against the forces trying to destroy them.
Read 4 tweets
Jun 10, 2020
Most people know that, except in small doses, Twitter is bad for your mood, attention span, & outlook. It’s why I take long breaks. Here’s some tips for cutting back your use:
1. Make a list on your phone of all the things that are more fulfilling than twitter - books, phoning friends, going for a run. Before opening twitter, look at this list & ask: could I do one of these instead?
2. Anne Lamott says - you are your habits. Your habits are your life. If this isn’t how you want to spend your life, remember: you need to do other things starting now.
Read 11 tweets
May 10, 2020
I just got an email saying my most recent TED talk - 'This could be why you're depressed or anxious' - has had 6 million views. It got a recent surge because so many more people are depressed & anxious, & the causes for this surge are clearly environmental ted.com/talks/johann_h…
If you're interested in how I'd apply this thinking to the current crisis, I talked to @voxdotcom about some aspects of it: vox.com/2020/3/28/2119…
And I discussed it with @ggreenwald here
Read 5 tweets
May 10, 2020
My brilliant friend @rcbregman has written an extraordinary book that won’t just expand your mind, it will expand your heart. It's called 'Humankind: A Hopeful History', out now from @BloomsburyBooks
It’s about the most important question of all - what’s our nature as human beings? - and it has so much to say about it that is revelatory
Here's a v good interview with him by @Freedland that discusses some of the themes of the book theguardian.com/books/2020/may…
Read 6 tweets

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