I think we should change the way we look at the mental healthcare sector and why it seems to be failing. The problem lies in the way we organise healthcare, and not in how little care is actually available, like we often assume.

Crashing mental healthcare sector: Let’s start with the healthcare products

The (Dutch) mental healthcare sector uses so called ‘care pathways’: a few sessions, a clear purpose (often reducing the patient’s symptoms), and then you’re ‘done’. But what if your problems don’t fit into a clear category? Imagine you’re struggling to find the meaning of life, or you’re holding on to a childhood trauma. If these cases, reducing your symptoms isn’t enough. What you need is to learn how to deal with the things that are still hurting you, to look at them differently, and maybe to find a new perspective. And that’s where it goes wrong: the healthcare products are designed for protocols, not for individuals.

The system makes it even more complicated.

Everything process driven, with success measured by metrics and KPI’s such as the number of clients that are seen, how quickly they can be ‘dealt with’, and how much administration is completed. Care workers would love to really connect (with patients), but are drowned in paperwork, rules, and regulations. It’s like they’re trying to mould the personal problems of human beings into excel-sheets. It’s surprising that healthcare professionals get so much done, considering this crazy workload.

And then, the thing that really matters: the diagnosis. In the Dutch mental healthcare sector the diagnosis is often the starting point, but what does it really mean? Are the problems of a person who has been labelled ‘depressed’, or ‘sensitive to psychosis’ easier to understand? Not really; diagnoses often create distance between the patient (you), and the expert. But what people really need, is an equal relationship, in which they can look for a suitable outcome together.

So what is the solution?

Firstly, we have to say goodbye to the rigid system, that is all about bureaucracy and fighting symptoms. More freedom, fewer rules, and more room for improvisation. No more endless questionnaires and registration, but real conversations. Imagine: a space you can just enter, where people try to achieve recovery together, and you don’t get sent away from because you don’t fit the right protocol.

Learning from each other, in groups

Working in groups is a golden opportunity. Not only is it more efficient, but also a lot more honest. You learn from each other, and you feel less alone, and you can discover your own strength by supporting others. Is also prevents the dependency on one care worker, which is much more beneficial. As well as that, we can make better use of tools outside of the healthcare sector; recovery academies, fellow sufferers, and even online forums like PsychosisNet and Proud2Bme. These type of places often offer exactly what people need: recognition, support, and inspiration.

Creating a system of working together

And I haven’t even mentioned the informal ecosystem. Did you know that only a minority of people with psychological complaints end up in the mental healthcare sector? The majority seeks support in their social circle, from family, friends, churches, recovery academies, Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, neighbourhood initiatives, or online. But those systems hardly cooperate, so what if we map this informal network and turn in into an ecosystem that is working together. It would make a world of difference.

An example of this is the GEM (Dutch abbreviation that means Ecosystem of Mental Health). This organisation doesn’t focus on who is the most specialised, but on collaboration, equality, and humanity. It focuses more on working in groups, and asking the experts to be flexible and available for consultations in the entire ecosystem, and not just the mental healthcare sector.

The notion is simple

You enter a room, and tell your story (Answering the four questions: What happened to you in your network and context? What is your power and vulnerability? What is important and meaningful to you? How would you be able to make that happen and what do you need for this?), and then you look at possible solutions together.

This might be in a group, or a group of experience experts in a recovery academy, AA, yoga classes, animal-assisted therapy, a life coach, or another practical solution near you. Everything is aimed at making a connection and helping you move on.

Together, we can find a way to make progress

In short, the mental healthcare sector doesn’t have to have a shortage of capacity, if we organise things differently. Less bureaucracy, more cooperation, and especially more attention to what people really need: support, connection, and the space to pick up their lives again. Let’s stop lining people up for healthcare products that they may not even need, and start to really listen to their wishes. Because at the end of the day, that is what it’s all about: finding a way to move on together, regardless of what name is given to the mental health problem. That’s the mental healthcare sector that we need.