Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ADMEHE (Mental health advocacy: Reassessing the history of mental health organizations in the second half of the twentieth century)
Reporting period: 2019-08-01 to 2021-07-31
Throughout the Western world, mental health advocacy gained considerable momentum in the second half of the twentieth century and remains to this day an important feature of mental health care and policy. Nevertheless, historical research on mental health advocacy and self-advocacy has not been systematic, even though the understanding of their history is not only of academic but also of social importance, as it can help address the challenges that mental health (self)advocacy faces today, including the persistence of stigma and marginalization, the insufficiency and inadequacy of services, and the violation of human rights.
This project made a step towards bridging this gap in research by focusing on the unexplored history of advocacy and self-advocacy for mental disorders and mental retardation in Greece, and situating this history within the context of social, cultural and mental healthcare developments in the post-war Western world. The research offered an overview of mental health lay and professional associations in the second half of the twentieth century, starting with the 1960s, when the first associations were founded, and up to the 1980s, when collective action around mental problems began to proliferate. The project concentrated on three of the earliest and more active parents’, patients’ and professionals’ organizations of the period: the PanHellenic Union of Parents and Guardians of Unadjusted Children (founded in 1960), the Movement for the Rights of the ‘Mentally Ill’ (1980) - an association that does not exist anymore – and the Society of Social Psychiatry and Mental Health (SSP&MH) (1981/1986).
The project had three overall objectives:
1) to find out when, how many, and what types of mental health organizations (MHOs) were founded in Greece, in the second half of the twentieth century
2) to contextualize Greek mental health advocacy within social and mental health activism in Greece and the Western world
3) to understand how MHOs today perceive and represent their past and the history of advocacy
The analysis reached the following main conclusions:
1) MHOs started to be founded in Greece mainly in the second part of the twentieth century, and increased in its last decades. MHOs were most commonly founded by parents and professionals, and aimed at the development of services and the information of the public. (Self)advocacy began to be referred to in the 1980s. At that time, after the fall of the dictatorship, activism increased and mental healthcare reforms were initiated. The first MHOs of users were founded in the early 1980s, initially the radical Motion for the Rights of the “Mentally Ill” and later other associations closer to the consumers’ version of the mental patient movement (MPM).
2) Today, associations see (self)advocacy as significant but difficult fields in mental healthcare. They believe that much has been achieved since the 1980s, but much needs to be done. Even associations that do not identify their work with (self)advocacy, claim that they endorse the goals of (self)advocacy through working on the autonomy of the users.
3) MHOs perceive and relate to their history in different ways. Some do not consider their history as relevant to this present and future, while others frequently showcase their history.
This project made a step towards bridging this gap in research by focusing on the unexplored history of advocacy and self-advocacy for mental disorders and mental retardation in Greece, and situating this history within the context of social, cultural and mental healthcare developments in the post-war Western world. The research offered an overview of mental health lay and professional associations in the second half of the twentieth century, starting with the 1960s, when the first associations were founded, and up to the 1980s, when collective action around mental problems began to proliferate. The project concentrated on three of the earliest and more active parents’, patients’ and professionals’ organizations of the period: the PanHellenic Union of Parents and Guardians of Unadjusted Children (founded in 1960), the Movement for the Rights of the ‘Mentally Ill’ (1980) - an association that does not exist anymore – and the Society of Social Psychiatry and Mental Health (SSP&MH) (1981/1986).
The project had three overall objectives:
1) to find out when, how many, and what types of mental health organizations (MHOs) were founded in Greece, in the second half of the twentieth century
2) to contextualize Greek mental health advocacy within social and mental health activism in Greece and the Western world
3) to understand how MHOs today perceive and represent their past and the history of advocacy
The analysis reached the following main conclusions:
1) MHOs started to be founded in Greece mainly in the second part of the twentieth century, and increased in its last decades. MHOs were most commonly founded by parents and professionals, and aimed at the development of services and the information of the public. (Self)advocacy began to be referred to in the 1980s. At that time, after the fall of the dictatorship, activism increased and mental healthcare reforms were initiated. The first MHOs of users were founded in the early 1980s, initially the radical Motion for the Rights of the “Mentally Ill” and later other associations closer to the consumers’ version of the mental patient movement (MPM).
2) Today, associations see (self)advocacy as significant but difficult fields in mental healthcare. They believe that much has been achieved since the 1980s, but much needs to be done. Even associations that do not identify their work with (self)advocacy, claim that they endorse the goals of (self)advocacy through working on the autonomy of the users.
3) MHOs perceive and relate to their history in different ways. Some do not consider their history as relevant to this present and future, while others frequently showcase their history.
The fellow investigated the secondary literature on social and mental health movements and mental health (self)advocacy in Europe and North America, and compiled a bibliographical catalogue. Moreover, she studied and created a database based on the archive of the Court of First Instance in Athens, to which all associations founded in Athens from 1914 are registered. She collected and analyzed material on the three Greek case studies ( primary and secondary literature, and 40 oral history interviews). The fellow also studied material from two French MHOs with analogous aims to the Greek ones: the Union Nationale de Familles et Amis de Personnes Malades et/ou Handicapées Psychiques (Unafam) (1963), and the Groupe Information Asiles (GIA) (1972). The fellow had a close cooperation with the aforementioned Greek organizations, and carried out a secondment in the SSP&MH.
The project’s results were communicated by a series of dissemination and outreach activities, including 2 presentations in international workshops, 4 presentations in seminars, the organization of a public engagement event, 2 academic papers, 1 newspaper and 1 magazine article, and 5 social media publications.
The project’s results were communicated by a series of dissemination and outreach activities, including 2 presentations in international workshops, 4 presentations in seminars, the organization of a public engagement event, 2 academic papers, 1 newspaper and 1 magazine article, and 5 social media publications.
The project furthered the state of the art by highlighting that beyond MHOs, advocacy and self-advocacy were promoted by services and institutions. This was the case of the Open Psychotherapy Center, which was founded in 1980 in Athens and aspired to foster patients’ autonomy, non-hierarchical relationships between patients and professionals, and respect of the professionals’ and patients’ personality and rights.
Making an input to the historiography of the mental patient movement (MPM) in the Western world, the project exemplified that its development was shaped by the transformations of mental healthcare since the 1950s, and the “counterculture” and “new social movements” of the “long 1960s”. The research offered an unexplored national case study in the history of the MPM, arguing that self-advocacy developed in Greece slowly and with difficulty, in the late 1970s. The first Greek formal association of mental patients, their relatives, and mental health professionals was the Motion for the Rights of the “Mentally Ill”, founded in Athens in 1980. It proposed a total restructuring of mental healthcare, and a novel conceptualization of mental illness. Although the Motion had a limited long-term impact, it represented the MPM in Greece, as it shared the latter’s main features, most importantly its endeavor to change not only the mental health system and the attitudes towards mental illness, but also society.The Motion had many elements of the radical, ex-patients’ version of the MPM, but combined them with elements of the moderate users’/consumers’ version of the MPM. Therefore it becomes evident that in the 1980s it not always easy to distinguish between radical and moderate self-advocacy.
The issues explored by the project are still not sufficiently addressed in modern societies, as the stigma surrounding mental health problems persists, the rights of the people with mental health problems are commonly violated, and the existing services are often insufficient and inadequate. By investigating the historical dimensions of advocacy and self-advocacy the action aimed at having an impact in improving the social place of the mentally ill, and in providing alternative means for explaining and resolving current problems in mental healthcare. People with mental health problems, their families, mental health professionals, as well as academics and researchers of mental healthcare and mental health history will be able to use the action’s results, which have been suitably communicated through the fellow’s collaboration with MHOs (both with professionals and users of the services), and through oral and written dissemination of the work in English and Greek in academic and non-academic settings.
Making an input to the historiography of the mental patient movement (MPM) in the Western world, the project exemplified that its development was shaped by the transformations of mental healthcare since the 1950s, and the “counterculture” and “new social movements” of the “long 1960s”. The research offered an unexplored national case study in the history of the MPM, arguing that self-advocacy developed in Greece slowly and with difficulty, in the late 1970s. The first Greek formal association of mental patients, their relatives, and mental health professionals was the Motion for the Rights of the “Mentally Ill”, founded in Athens in 1980. It proposed a total restructuring of mental healthcare, and a novel conceptualization of mental illness. Although the Motion had a limited long-term impact, it represented the MPM in Greece, as it shared the latter’s main features, most importantly its endeavor to change not only the mental health system and the attitudes towards mental illness, but also society.The Motion had many elements of the radical, ex-patients’ version of the MPM, but combined them with elements of the moderate users’/consumers’ version of the MPM. Therefore it becomes evident that in the 1980s it not always easy to distinguish between radical and moderate self-advocacy.
The issues explored by the project are still not sufficiently addressed in modern societies, as the stigma surrounding mental health problems persists, the rights of the people with mental health problems are commonly violated, and the existing services are often insufficient and inadequate. By investigating the historical dimensions of advocacy and self-advocacy the action aimed at having an impact in improving the social place of the mentally ill, and in providing alternative means for explaining and resolving current problems in mental healthcare. People with mental health problems, their families, mental health professionals, as well as academics and researchers of mental healthcare and mental health history will be able to use the action’s results, which have been suitably communicated through the fellow’s collaboration with MHOs (both with professionals and users of the services), and through oral and written dissemination of the work in English and Greek in academic and non-academic settings.