Potential Proposal for UN consideration in 2018
Truth and Reconciliation: Mental Wellbeing
Key Issues
We hold a five day conference to acknowledge the dissonance between mental health
practitioner and patient perspectives, and to brainstorm actions for ways forward.
Topics:
• Migrant and refugee populations: mental health
• Global concerns around institutional racism and category error
• Misinterpretation, misdiagnosis and treatment of symptoms of distress
Project to Address UN Sustainable Development Goals
• #3 Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Wellbeing for All and All Ages
• # 10 Reduce Inequality Within and Among Countries
• #16 Promote Just Peaceful and Inclusive Societies
Potential Hosts
• OSI – Objectif Sciences International
o Meetings that change the world
o GENEVA FORUM is a meeting platform for professionals and individuals
who want to be helpful in advancing solutions
• UNCHR - United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
• OHCHR - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Conference Process
1. Identify Key Issues around Mental Health
2. Listen to Stakeholder Evidence: of experts by experience, peers, survivors,
psychologists, psychiatrists, critical and anti-psychiatrists, carers
3. Brainstorm Citizen-led Decisions towards direct action for change
4. Executive Round Table to summarise the decisions taken
Define the Problem
Global concerns around category error within psychiatry
• Medication before investigation
• Inequality: teaching around ‘ethnic predispositions’
• Healthy Lives: assumptions around disease and chemical imbalance
• Peaceful Inclusive Societies: why medicate before asking ‘what happened?’
Category errors around interpretation of ‘symptoms’:
• Trauma around migration, separation, persecution, race
• Spiritual emergency, visionary and auditory experiences
• Expanded consciousness: Doors of perception – which may open naturally or due
to trauma (felt, suppressed or repressed)
Present Evidence Base for cultural interpretations
• Academic researchers: e.g. Whitaker, Davies, Kinderman, Fernando, Read
• Evidence for compassionate solutions: e.g. Gnosis, Soteria, Parachute project
Schedule Proposed
Day One
Introduction
1. set out the principles of the meeting
2. introduce the structure of the event
3. networking table
Identify the Key Issues
• Listen to the narratives illustrating direct evidence of experients
• Acknowledge dissonance and chasm between information in
mainstream press and social media
Day Two
Listen to the narratives illustrating direct evidence of experients
o Narratives of migrants and refugees, people colonised, under section
o Those in crisis with extreme experiences, spiritual awakening
Day Three
• Listen to the evidence of critical and anti psychiatry movements
• Brainstorm citizen-led decisions towards direct action for change
Day Four
• Brainstorm citizen-led decisions towards direct action for change
• Executive Round Table to summarise the decisions taken
Day Five
• Meeting of the action takers
- Set out what direct action can be taken with immediate effect, to
promote the decisions taken, and install change in medical schools,
hospitals, universities, and health care teaching establishments.
- Disseminate decisions through mainstream TV, press, social media
Participants and Audience
• Those with direct experience
Peers, patients, psychiatrists, psychologists, carers, families, medical and
health care staff, policy makers, experts by experience
• Researchers and Teachers, critical and anti psychiatrists
• Business and Financiers
• Decision Makers
Students, journalists and Media
• Action Takers
Representatives of UN member countries
United Nations Human Rights Council UNHRC
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR
World Health Organisation WHO
World Council of Churches
CCHR & NGOs
Dr Natalie Tobert
Medical Anthropologist
[email protected]
http://aethos.org.uk/