By Joanna Moncrieff.

The Critical Psychiatry Network’s 2017 conference “Recovery in a Time of Austerity” raised some tricky issues for the audience and like-minded people, but also pointed to the potential for radical transformation of our approach to mental health problems. Three top quality speakers, big names in the Recovery field, gave inspiring and provocative talks. Dave Harper argued that the Recovery concept is another way of blaming the individual, and diverting efforts from the sort of social changes that would really bring about better mental health for all. Geoff Shepherd looked at the history of mental health care, which reminds us that the dominant medical orientation of services is to some extent an accident of history. If we can throw off current assumptions, we can start to imagine how mental health services could be provided quite differently, prioritising decent and secure housing and employment, for example. Mike Slade reminded us of the radical potential of the Recovery concept with its focus on quality of life and personal goals rather than symptoms and pathology. He talked of mental health field being at a point of transition, with numerous forces, including the Critical Psychiatry Network and the survivor movement, chipping away at the dominant paradigm.

In discussion, the audience pointed out how current political rhetoric continues to focus on the individual and their deficiencies, rather than addressing the social conditions that make modern life so challenging for many.

The night before the conference there was a trip to see the recent film about R.D. Laing with David Tenant,

Mad to be Normal

The film was sympathetic to Laing’s views, despite his unorthodox methods. It was an endorsement of many of the Critical Psychiatry Network’s points about the importance of finding meaning in madness and the dangers of simply suppressing this with drugs or other means.