Mental Health for all — Moving beyond Rhetoric

Abstract

With the prospect of a non-racial democratic society in South Africa in the foreseeable future comes an increased possibility of ‘mental health for all’. Included in the requirements to achieve this are a fundamental commitment from all in the field, and policy leading in this direction. In this article everyone in mental health is challenged, and psychologists in particular, to assist in achieving a society more conducive to mental health and promoting equity in mental health care. It is suggested that psychologists need to be more active in promoting an understanding of mental health (including its relation to social policies) and in influencing government on detrimental psychological effects of political policies. Options through which greater mental health care may become available to all are put forward.