Thread by @PsychSocChange

What does it mean to say that mental health is a social and political issue?

A thread with ten different and interconnected ideas for #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek.

1) Causal pathways: Probably the most ideological and ripe for accusations of cherry picking on both sides. Investigates and campaigns around the relationship between various social inequalities (poverty, ethnicity, gender etc.) and prevalence of mental illness or distress.

2) Government policy: Highlights the impact of government agendas and proposals. For example, we have highlighted the impact of austerity on mental health and the shortcomings of the recent green paper on children and young people's mental health.

3) Rights: Queries how civic and human rights of people with mental health difficulties are upheld. Does current mental health practice and legislation conform to our obligations under national and international law? What does it mean that there is a human right to mental health?

4) Representation: Looks at the ways in which people with mental health difficulties are perceived in society. Are they viewed solely in economic terms, often using the language of burden, or as being dangerous, as in the case of black men? How can we challenges these ideas?

5) Service users/survivors: Engagement with how service users challenge psychology, psychiatry and activism. Who is asked to speak about mental health and on what grounds? How do professionals disclose when they have used services and what are the reasons that often they don't?

6) Psychologisation: Critiques viewing people exclusively through a psychological lens; E.g., seeing a refugee as being a psychological phenomenon (with its associations of trauma) rather than primarily a political one. How might practice change if we questioned this more often?

7) Positive mental health: Shows how a positive conception of mental health often hides moral and political ideals. Well-being/recovery often reflects socially valued roles such as working or contributing to your community rather than outcomes people desire for their lives.

8) Health: Highlights that physical health outcomes, and life expectancy, are worse for those with mental health difficulties.

9) Individual approaches: Highlights the increasing use of medication (15,000 prescriptions of antidepressants in 1998 and over 40,000 in 2010) and increasing referrals for therapy while social provision is being cut.

10) Activism: Critiques that mental health activism is still predominated by cis, white, middle class professionals. Recognises that this limits the questions being asked and perhaps our ability to engage meaningfully with other groups working towards progressive social change.

As always, please comment below and keep the conversation going.

Let us know whether we've forgotten anything, whether you disagree with any of these areas or whether the politics of mental health inevitably reflects our own ideological affiliations and nothing more.