Having read several extremely good documents including information from the KONP crisis conference and the SWAN Charter, and noting no great ‘purchaser penetration’, as is said in some circles, and having careers in mental healthcare of many years (when added together) and therefore having lived and witnessed the long decline, we decided that this relative neglect of subject and services was more than just casual. So, putting together our experience, training and lots of research, and desperately trying to keep it cogent, after several iterations this is what you have.
It is not aimed at a particular audience but exists, we hope, as a potential resource for anyone interested in understanding not just the ‘who and how’ but also the ‘why’ any of us with a mental health problem may feel ostracised and receive a poor service. To understand and try to escape the current ‘blaming of the individual’ we have examined our current predominant ideology as ‘our reality’ and the harm associated with it.
