Denied is an opportunity for independence and to earn one's way. Some users of mental health services have chosen to barter craziness for shelter and food. They provide their visions, voices and mood swings as objects for the therapeutic community. The current rehabilitative activity and socialization programs for the seriously mentally ill separate those being served from participation in the broad community. Keeping the psychiatrically labeled population dependent provides the opportunity for professionals to exercise and experience their own good will and beneficence.
Professionals argue that it is the disability that needs the dependence.
This is good for the therapists but enfeebles the user. I think the fundamental need is the enterprise that will produce social acceptance, money, or something more than illness, to barter for food and housing. A task for each user of mental health services is to define what projects are achievable that will meet that individual's goal for satisfaction. Each person needs the opportunity to tailor connection and community while accommodating mood swings, visions and voices. Even when an emotional or mental disability is the ground of an individual's life, the figure can be self-determined purposeful action.