A response to criticism of the global mental health movement. How polarization can be overcome in theory and in west African social psychiatric practice
Since the turn of the 21st century, we have seen the development of an international movement that works in various ways to ensure that everyone in the world has access to adequate mental health care. There is indeed a great need for action, especially in countries with weak and underfunded health s...
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Cambridge University Press
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2054425124001201/type/journal_article |
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| author | Michael Huppertz |
| author_facet | Michael Huppertz |
| author_sort | Michael Huppertz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Since the turn of the 21st century, we have seen the development of an international movement that works in various ways to ensure that everyone in the world has access to adequate mental health care. There is indeed a great need for action, especially in countries with weak and underfunded health systems. The Movement for Global Mental Health (MGMH) is supported by strong organizations such as the WHO, academic institutions and NGOs. As this movement has gained momentum, however, it has been accompanied by fierce criticism, in particular from scholars of the humanities and social science, who see the global expansion of psychiatry as a medical discipline as a form of power-grabbing, neocolonialism and capitalist expansion. They also consider psychiatry to be a biologistic discipline, the justification of which they question, in continuation of a long anti-psychiatric tradition. This criticism prompted several adaptations of the MGMH and various efforts towards integration, but these have not been widely accepted by the critics. The following text primarily summarizes, classifies and critically engages with the basic arguments of the aforementioned critique. Theoretical misconceptions regarding the practice of psychiatry are clarified. Subsequently a specific project in Côte d’Ivoire is presented that demonstrates how contextual psychiatry can proceed and how unnecessary dichotomies and polarizations can be overcome in the interests of the persons concerned. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c1419485938a4049ba5d888dbb80031a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2054-4251 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-c1419485938a4049ba5d888dbb80031a2025-01-16T21:49:05ZengCambridge University PressCambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health2054-42512024-01-011110.1017/gmh.2024.120A response to criticism of the global mental health movement. How polarization can be overcome in theory and in west African social psychiatric practiceMichael Huppertz0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7087-3067Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist, Sociologist, Kreuz 10A, D 85625 Glonn, Germany Executive Board, Mindful Change Foundation, Darmstadt, GermanySince the turn of the 21st century, we have seen the development of an international movement that works in various ways to ensure that everyone in the world has access to adequate mental health care. There is indeed a great need for action, especially in countries with weak and underfunded health systems. The Movement for Global Mental Health (MGMH) is supported by strong organizations such as the WHO, academic institutions and NGOs. As this movement has gained momentum, however, it has been accompanied by fierce criticism, in particular from scholars of the humanities and social science, who see the global expansion of psychiatry as a medical discipline as a form of power-grabbing, neocolonialism and capitalist expansion. They also consider psychiatry to be a biologistic discipline, the justification of which they question, in continuation of a long anti-psychiatric tradition. This criticism prompted several adaptations of the MGMH and various efforts towards integration, but these have not been widely accepted by the critics. The following text primarily summarizes, classifies and critically engages with the basic arguments of the aforementioned critique. Theoretical misconceptions regarding the practice of psychiatry are clarified. Subsequently a specific project in Côte d’Ivoire is presented that demonstrates how contextual psychiatry can proceed and how unnecessary dichotomies and polarizations can be overcome in the interests of the persons concerned.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2054425124001201/type/journal_articlemental health care in West Africaprayer campsglobal mental health (GMH)movement for global mental healthcritique of the movement for global mental health (MGMH)mental health and human rightssocial psychiatry in West Africa |
| spellingShingle | Michael Huppertz A response to criticism of the global mental health movement. How polarization can be overcome in theory and in west African social psychiatric practice Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health mental health care in West Africa prayer camps global mental health (GMH) movement for global mental health critique of the movement for global mental health (MGMH) mental health and human rights social psychiatry in West Africa |
| title | A response to criticism of the global mental health movement. How polarization can be overcome in theory and in west African social psychiatric practice |
| title_full | A response to criticism of the global mental health movement. How polarization can be overcome in theory and in west African social psychiatric practice |
| title_fullStr | A response to criticism of the global mental health movement. How polarization can be overcome in theory and in west African social psychiatric practice |
| title_full_unstemmed | A response to criticism of the global mental health movement. How polarization can be overcome in theory and in west African social psychiatric practice |
| title_short | A response to criticism of the global mental health movement. How polarization can be overcome in theory and in west African social psychiatric practice |
| title_sort | response to criticism of the global mental health movement how polarization can be overcome in theory and in west african social psychiatric practice |
| topic | mental health care in West Africa prayer camps global mental health (GMH) movement for global mental health critique of the movement for global mental health (MGMH) mental health and human rights social psychiatry in West Africa |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2054425124001201/type/journal_article |
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