POST-PSYCHIATRY

Bracken and Thomas (2001) discuss in the British Medical Journal the conception of 'post-psychiatry." In this, they conclude that the field of mental health should become more democratic and that there should be no coercion. Individuals who are consumers should have more voice in the care they receive. In addition, ethics should take precedent over technology. They discuss how that individuals have seen that science and technology have failed in reducing human distress. Post-psychiatry also examines social and cultural contexts. Post-psychiatry also seeks to look at the experiences of individuals (even if looked upon as psychotic or 'madness' by others) as meaningful. The experiences have an inherent meaning and there should be exploration of how these relate to the core person. Bracker and Thomas state that post-psychiatry does not seek to develop any new concepts of what causes 'madness' but rather open the door to the client's expression and to provide them a voice. They state that anti-psychiatry looked upon psychiatry as repressive and based on an erroneous medical model and that psychiatry contended that those in the anti-psychiatry movement were merely fueled by their own ideology. Bracker and Thomas state that both groups thought there was a definitive way of looking at why mental distress occurs. However, post-psychiatry does not concern itself with this question.