A broader platform to discuss mental health service concerns
Such concerns include the inhumane physical conditions in hospital units, over-reliance on and excessive use of medication, lack of meaningful community-based alternatives to hospitalisation, involuntary treatment, abuse of professional power, lack of information and choice in relation to “treatment” options.
New approaches have emerged to address these concerns. These approaches recognise that the bio-medical strategy in mental health care today will at best provide temporary symptomatic relief (which may be valid as a first step), but may compound, exacerbate and even cause further deep distress. Current responses to distress fail to capture the complexity of human experiences by ignoring the underlying grief, heartbreak and trauma in people’s lives. These new approaches also recognise that the whole person needs to be centrally engaged in their own recovery.
