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A Manifesto for Psychological Health and Wellbeing

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Book cover The Sedated Society

Abstract

Traditional thinking about mental healthcare is profoundly flawed, and radical remedies are required. Our present approach to helping people in acute emotional distress is severely hampered by old-fashioned and incorrect ideas about the nature and origins of mental health problems, and vulnerable people suffer as a result of inappropriate treatment. We must move away from the ‘disease model’, which assumes that emotional distress is merely a symptom of biological illness, and instead embrace a psychological and psychosocial approach to mental health and wellbeing that recognises our essential and shared humanity. The need for reform in mental health services is acute, severe and unavoidable. This demands nothing less than a manifesto for change.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See datablog at the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/may/02/uk-healthcare-spending-gdp.

  2. 2.

    See report by the Schizophrenia Commission at: the http://www.schizophreniacommission.org.uk/the-report/.

  3. 3.

    See report by the Quality Care Commission: http://www.cqc.org.uk/node/1667.

  4. 4.

    See Quality Care Commission: http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/cqc_mentalhealthsummar y_2012_13_05.pdf.

  5. 5.

    See Quality Care Commission: http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/cqc_mentalhealthsummar y_2012_13_05.pdf.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Peter Kinderman

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  1. Peter Kinderman
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences, University of Roehampton, London, United Kingdom

    James Davies

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Kinderman, P. (2017). A Manifesto for Psychological Health and Wellbeing. In: Davies, J. (eds) The Sedated Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44911-1_11

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