Key Findings

We are living in an age where the most dominant paradigm for understanding mental distress is offered by the biomedical model… Distress is viewed narrowly as an illness or dysfunction within individuals.

A diagnostic approach 
allows a range of gender inequalities, including gendered violence, to continue unchecked. 

There are significant power imbalances between mental health professionals and people diagnosed with psychiatric diagnoses. 

Involuntary mental health treatment is justified on the basis that it is in the best interests of people experiencing distress, but it frequently makes distress worse.