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From Mental Health Industry to Humane Care. Suggestions for an Alternative Systemic Approach to Distress
by Radosław Stupak 1,*ORCID andBartłomiej Dobroczyński 2
1
Institute of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, 52 Grodzka St., PL 31044 Kraków, Poland
2
Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, 6 Ingardena St., PL 30060 Kraków, Poland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Paul B. Tchounwou
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(12), 6625; doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126625
Received: 2 June 2021 / Revised: 16 June 2021 / Accepted: 17 June 2021 / Published: 20 June 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Mental Health)
www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6625
Abstract
The article proposes a rough outline of an alternative systemic approach to mental health issues and of a more humane mental health care system. It suggests focusing on understanding mental distress as stemming from problems in living, using medications as agents facilitating psychotherapy, or as a last resort and short-term help, according to the principles of harm reduction. It argues that understanding drugs as psychoactive substances and studying the subjective effects they produce could lead to better utilization of medications and improvements in terms of conceptualizing and assessing treatment effects. Qualitative research could be particularly useful in that regard. It also advocates a radical departure from current diagnostic systems and proposes a synthesis of already existing alternatives to be used for both research and clinical purposes. Accordingly, a general idea for an alternative mental health care system, based on a combination of Open Dialogue Approach, Soteria houses, individual and group psychotherapy, cautious prescribing, services helping with drug discontinuation, peer-led services and social support is presented. The proposition could be seen as a first step towards developing a systemic alternative that could replace the currently dominating approach instead of focusing on implementing partial solutions that can be co-opted by the current one. View Full-Text
Keywords: open dialogue approach; soteria; power threat meaning framework; drug-centered approach; mental health reform; critical psychiatry
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
by Radosław Stupak 1,*ORCID andBartłomiej Dobroczyński 2
1
Institute of Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, 52 Grodzka St., PL 31044 Kraków, Poland
2
Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, 6 Ingardena St., PL 30060 Kraków, Poland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Paul B. Tchounwou
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(12), 6625; doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126625
Received: 2 June 2021 / Revised: 16 June 2021 / Accepted: 17 June 2021 / Published: 20 June 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Mental Health)
www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6625
Abstract
The article proposes a rough outline of an alternative systemic approach to mental health issues and of a more humane mental health care system. It suggests focusing on understanding mental distress as stemming from problems in living, using medications as agents facilitating psychotherapy, or as a last resort and short-term help, according to the principles of harm reduction. It argues that understanding drugs as psychoactive substances and studying the subjective effects they produce could lead to better utilization of medications and improvements in terms of conceptualizing and assessing treatment effects. Qualitative research could be particularly useful in that regard. It also advocates a radical departure from current diagnostic systems and proposes a synthesis of already existing alternatives to be used for both research and clinical purposes. Accordingly, a general idea for an alternative mental health care system, based on a combination of Open Dialogue Approach, Soteria houses, individual and group psychotherapy, cautious prescribing, services helping with drug discontinuation, peer-led services and social support is presented. The proposition could be seen as a first step towards developing a systemic alternative that could replace the currently dominating approach instead of focusing on implementing partial solutions that can be co-opted by the current one. View Full-Text
Keywords: open dialogue approach; soteria; power threat meaning framework; drug-centered approach; mental health reform; critical psychiatry
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.