Return to community : building support systems for people with psychiatric disabilities /

This book is based on the assumption that people who have, or have had, a mental disorder are human beings. Carling discloses the unhealthy aspects of current approaches to providing mental health care services, challenges professionals to reform the views that fuel the present system, and offers pragmatic suggestions for helping persons with mental disorders to reclaim their lives and participate fully within the community. He reviews the needs of mental health consumers, delineates the approaches needed for community change, and outlines the methods for revamping the mental health system and integrating mental health consumers into the community. The author, a consummate advocate for those who live with mental disorders, examines the mental health organizational structures, policies, and funding priorities and argues forcefully against the current vertical structure that controls and oppresses people with mental disorders. He recommends strategies of self-help, partnerships, and empowerment with a full awareness of the magnitude of the problems to be solved. Clearly written, well documented, and readable. General; undergraduate through professional. D. B. Hamilton; Western Michigan University