For good mental health we need to think about ourselves, others and the worlds we live in. This is why campaign focus on “action for yourself, for someone else, for all of us” is key.
What we are witnessing here is not a new problem, nor is it isolated to a lack of funding, or just to burnt out staff. It's been baked into the mental health system since before it began...
Jen Daffin reflects on the recent Bevan Commission conference, and how solving the problems faced by the NHS will take more than just trying harder.
We have outgrown the story that people having a tough time with their mental health are just experiencing the fate of biology, genetic potluck and lacking ‘personal resilience’. If we understand that distress and mental health is not rooted in disease and pathology then it makes no sense to construct our understanding from this starting point.
We must stop putting the issue of mental health onto the person and blame them or think of ‘them’ as second-class citizens but we must recognise the role adversity, trauma, distress and injustice have on our mental health.
