Recognizing the lack of political will is crucial in framing a theory of change for mental health care reform, especially when challenging entrenched systems like capitalism, colonialism, and psychiatry. This necessitates strategies that work both outside traditional political structures and within them to catalyze cultural and systemic change, driven by communities rather than waiting for government or institutional endorsement. Below is an extended theory of change that acknowledges this absence of political will and builds a model focused on grassroots movements, community empowerment, and systemic disruption.
Extended Theory of Change with Recognition of a Lack of Political Will
- Vision Statement:
A transformative shift toward community-led, non pathologising, and non- coercive mental health care systems, driven by grassroots movements and informed by the lived experiences of those marginalized by psychiatry, capitalism, and colonialism. The vision acknowledges the lack of political will to make substantive changes and instead relies on cultural change, community resilience, and the gradual erosion of institutional power.
- Long-Term Goals:
- Goal 1: Build autonomous, community-driven support networks that operate independently from government and institutional control, offering alternatives to coercive psychiatric and medical systems.
- Goal 2: Foster a cultural revolution that normalizes non-coercive, non pathologizing care, undermining the capitalist and colonial models of mental health care without needing immediate policy reform.
- Goal 3: Amplify the voices and leadership of those marginalized by psychiatry—psychiatric survivors, neurodiverse individuals, and others— to create sustainable, peer-led systems of care outside traditional power
- Goal 4: Incrementally challenge and erode the influence of the psychiatric-industrial complex through public education, grassroots organizing, and strategic pressure on institutions, recognizing that political change may be slow or resistant.
- Key Outcomes:
- Outcome 1: A robust network of peer-led, survivor-run mental health services that operate independently of government funding or oversight, prioritizing human rights, dignity, and non-coercive care.
- Outcome 2: A societal shift where mental health care is viewed as a community responsibility, based on mutual aid and collective care rather than medical models or state intervention.
- Outcome 3: Mad Pride, neurodiversity, and alternative mental health movements become more visible and accepted, with increased community-driven spaces for support and expression.
- Outcome 4: Over time, government and institutional reliance on coercive psychiatric practices is reduced through the rise of alternative systems and growing public pressure.