Few of us would want to be a user of psychiatric services. It is a status associated with fear, stigma, isolation and disadvantage. This book takes a closer look at the realities for people and how to deal with them. It shows that what may begin as a painful and unwanted experience can pave the way for new understandings and life chances, and how psychiatric service users are coming together to bring about changes benefiting us all. A whistlestop tour covers topics such as mental health and inequality, the social model of disability, civil rights, recovery, compulsion, survivor led alternatives to psychaitric care and peer-support.

A pocket sized, good value series of succinct, thought provoking introductions ideal for students in all mental health disciplines, psychiatric service users, carers and indeed everyone with an interest in mental health. The authors are acknowledged leaders in their respective specialist fields with reputations for clear thinking, realistic, compassionate approaches and straight talking.

Rather than accept that solutions to mental health problems are owned by the medical professions, these books look at alternatives and provide information so that the users of psychiatric services, their families and carers can make more decisions about their own lives. Becoming more active in mental health issues requires knowledge — this series of books is a starting point for anyone who wants to know more about mental health problems. These books also introduce ways of working collaboratively with doctors, psychiatrists and counsellors.

Other books in this series
 •The Causes of Mental Health ProblemsJohn Read & Pete Sanders
 •Psychiatric DiagnosisRichard Bentall
 •Psychiatric DrugsJoanna Moncrieff
•Psychological Treatments for Mental Health ProblemsDavid Pilgrim 
 •Children's Mental Health ProblemsSami Timimi
 

Foreword  Jan Wallcraft

Introduction     

Part One                                                                  

Ch 1: Setting the scene                                                                

Ch 2: The psychiatric system                                                       

Ch 3: The language of ‘mental health’  

Part Two                 

Ch 4: The mental health service user/survivor movement

Ch  5: Mental health services and inequality                               

Ch 6: Issues of identity                                           

Chapter Seven: From a medical to a social model                    

Part Three

Ch 8: Developing a new vision: Principles for the future         

Ch 9: Developing a new vision: Survivor-led approaches to support                                                                             

Ch 10: Developing a new vision: Routes to achieving Change           

Part 4                                                     

Postscript: A broader view and next steps

References