How Norway is Offering Drug-Free Treatment to People With Psychosis

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From the BBC: “Hakon Rian Ueland, 54, one of the campaigners who helped bring about medication-free treatment in Norway, believes that [the] conversation about danger hides an agenda to shelter society from the often challenging behaviour of people going through psychosis. ‘They are putting forward an agenda to sedate people,’ he says, adding that symptoms that alarm neurotypical people may be important for the person experiencing them. ‘When you go through psychosis it can be very dramatic.’

. . . Psychiatrists and patients around the world are watching what happens in Norway, where the government has taken decisive action to try and improve the lives of psychotic people by giving them more power over their lives. Globally, there’s a reassessment of the way people with mental illness are treated and a will to reduce coercion.”

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2 COMMENTS

  1. From the BBC article, one would think the history of “treatment” began with the anti-psychotic.

    “So far, patients in the acute stage of psychosis cannot be referred to medication-free units. User groups are hoping to change that, arguing that this phase often passes on its own if people can be in a place of safety and support while they weather the storm.”

    This was common practice before the 1950’s, and even later, if you were lucky enough to find “a place of safety”.

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