Creating mentally inclusive communities

‘Embracing distress as part of everyday life’ is the provocative title of this year’s annual disability lecture.
In her lecture, Dr Rachel Perkins will argue that to create mentally inclusive communities, we need to learn lessons from the broader disability rights movement.
A clinical psychologist, Dr Perkins worked in NHS mental health services for 30 years. She lives and works with a long-term mental health condition.
In 2010 she was voted Mind Champion of the Year and awarded an OBE for services to mental health.
Dr Perkins said: “We tend to believe the answer to mental health challenges is treatment and therapy. While I am not against treatment and therapy, they are only a small part of living with – and moving beyond – mental health problems.”
Instead, she says we should tackle social and interpersonal barriers in the same way as physical barriers.
“We accommodate those who have problems navigating the physical world with ramps and hearing loops, and we need the same approach for people with mental health challenges – the mental health equivalent of a ramp,” she said.
At work, this means “lots of boring practicalities” as well as embracing distress as part of everyday life. “It’s not rocket science. For managers, lots of it is simple stuff: a buddy, someone to talk to, a bit of extra supervision,”
Dr Perkins explained. “We need to embrace distress – in most of our communities we do the stiff upper lip thing like it’s going out of style. Tears and anger are human, but they are seen as unusual at work, something to put into the realms of therapy. Our work processes should cope with these fluctuations in people’s lives.”
This spring, the University will be promoting a new wellbeing agenda.
Led by HR business manager Sarah Botcherby, the agenda – which will bring together a wide range of new and existing services and support for staff – is being developed by the University Counselling Service, Personal & Professional Development, Occupational Health, Health & Safety Office, staff reps and trade unions.
The 11th annual disability lecture – ‘Creating mentally inclusive communities: embracing distress as part of everyday life’ – is at 5.30pm on Thursday, 20 March in the Palmerston Room, St John’s College. To book, visit www.training.cam.ac.uk/cppd/event/1059959.