Service users of psychiatry and their organisations have for decades been trying to convey users’ narratives on mental distress and its treatment. This work has made an impact; the trend is towards a humanistic psychiatric care and support; a journey from paternalism to social inclusion. Our aim in this chapter is to describe the user organisations’ narratives of psychiatric services. The method for analysis is from narrative art history focusing on 1) transformation, 2) desire for and 3) lack of.
The user’s organisations in Sweden started as a radical left-wing activist movement in the 1960s, supported by anti-psychiatry intellectuals. They managed to influence the public opinion and policy makers, which contributed to the deinstitutionalisation and humanisation of psychiatry. The following period was characterized by user organisations acting like trade unions moving towards a more dialogical work with the psychiatric services. Their major contribution was to influence the development of the new psychiatry based on outpatient care and community-based living. Today the user organisations are more integrated in the psychiatric services and an active partner in co-creation and co-production of psychiatric services.
The user organisations, together with other stakeholders, have managed to contribute to a transformation of psychiatry. The large mental hospitals have closed; there has been an increased access to healthcare and to the quality of life for many of the service users. Still, there are difficulties, like the lack of support for the users who are most severely affected by mental distress, and different kinds of coercion. These problems need to be addressed at the policy level, rather than in the psychiatric health care system. To be successful there is a lot to learn from history where user organisations have acted as activists and tough trade union representatives. More than ever, free user organisations are needed that can give a voice to those who are unable to argue for their rights themselves. Then, maybe, we could move towards social inclusion; a society where we are “Leaving No One Behind”.