Power Threat Meaning Framework: An Alternative to Psychiatric Diagnosis -Mary Boyle & Lucy Johnstone

Language isn’t just about the words we use, but also about the effects of those words. What is the common language of mental distress? “Diagnosis”, “medication”, “brain disorder”, “chemical imbalance”… It’s the language of medicine and it has consequences. It suggests that our emotional and behavioural difficulties can be understood in the same way as malfunctioning body parts. This, in turn, can create a sense of something called “mental disorders” as things that have a life of their own, quite independent from the personal, social or historical context. People are said to “have” a mental illness, or that it “happens” or “develops” in us. The use of such medical language leads to further consequences, such as researching “mental disorders” separately from people’s life experiences; looking for causes of emotional and behavioural difficulties in people’s genes and biology. It also leads to depicting “mental disorders” as specific targets for treatment by “antidepressants”, “antipsychotics” or “anxiolytics”. People are often told that certain life events are just a “trigger” for their underlying biological vulnerability. And there is a narrow focus on getting the right diagnosis and medication. All these assumptions and practices have very deep philosophical roots. In this lecture, Mary Bold and Lucy Johnstone explore the philosophical roots and consequences of these assumptions and practices in psychiatry treatment. They also present an alternative framework to psychiatric diagnosis: the Power Threat Meaning Framework. Language and assumptions of “mental disorders” can support imbalances of power. What we call mental health problems are not an illness like any other. Instead, they are understandable and meaningful responses to a person’s history and circumstances. Instead of asking “What’s wrong with you?” or “What disorder do you have?”, the Power Threat Meaning Framework asks: “What has happened to you?” (that is, how is power operating in your life?); “How did it affect you?” (that is, what kind of threats does this pose?); “What sense did you make of it?” (that is, what is the meaning of these experiences to you?); “What did you have to do to survive?” (that is, what kinds of threat response are you using?); “What are your strengths?” (that is, what access to power resources do you have?); and, finally, to integrate everything, “What is your story?”. This can help people to create new, non-medical, hopeful narratives about their lives and circumstances, instead of seeing themselves as “mentally ill”.
This is the third lecture in the London Lecture Series 2023/24, which this year is on the subject of Madness and Mental Health. Watch the whole series here: • Madness and Mental Hea...
Presentation of Speakers - 00:00
Lecture - 01:20
Q&A - 57:10

[@karentonks7581]

Although it is a complex comprehensive framework, when simplified it is common sense

[@justinbowen678]

This was a wonderful talk! I hope we will see more consideration of the Power Threat Meaning Framework and other alternatives in the field of mental health