Neoliberal ideas didn’t accidentally creep into mental health policy—they were systematically implanted through well-funded networks of think tanks, political shifts, legal frameworks, and austerity-driven economic reforms. Here’s how that infection spread:
1. Think Tanks & Intellectual Infrastructure 🧠
-
Starting in the 1940s, institutions like the Mont Pèlerin Society, the Chicago School, and later the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) cultivated neoliberal thought. They funded research, promoted pro-market ideology, and trained policymakers. Thatcher and Reagan didn't stumble on these ideas—they were practically groomed by them link.springer.com+5cambridge.org+5injustice-film.com+5wired.com.
-
These think tanks also infiltrated the realm of social policy—the IEA even created a “Health and Welfare Unit” to push market ideology into areas traditionally seen as public goods en.wikipedia.org.
2. Political Realignment in the 1980s
-
Britain’s Thatcher and the U.S.’s Reagan leveraged economic crises (inflation, stagflation) to push neoliberal reforms: deregulation, privatization, weakening unions, slashing welfare .
-
In mental health, this meant closing large institutions and shifting to “community care”—but without proper funding or infrastructure—turning deinstitutionalization into a shell game cambridge.org.
3. Legislation & Institutional Restructuring
-
In the U.S., the Mental Health Systems Act (1980)—a progressive move—was quickly gutted by Reagan’s 1981 budget cuts, collapsing federal support for community mental health en.wikipedia.org+1injustice-film.com+1.
-
In the UK, the 1990 NHS reforms introduced internal markets in healthcare. Mental health staff became buyers and sellers within the system, shifting focus from sustained therapeutic relationships to budget-driven targets .
4. Marketization & Risk Management
-
Governments implanted systems like CBT-based IAPT in the UK and iCBT in Canada & Australia—touted as cost-effective but aligned more with employment-readiness than lasting recovery transformingsociety.co.uk+2canadiandimension.com+2injustice-film.com+2.
-
Performance metrics, data tracking, and risk assessment frameworks became central to mental health delivery—driven by government handbooks and auditing agencies. These modelled care interactions after markets, valuing speed and compliance over depth transformingsociety.co.uk.
6. Austerity & Structural Harm
-
Cuts to public services under neoliberal austerity devastated mental health systems—especially for the most vulnerable. Disabled individuals in Chile and Greece lost critical access to care .
-
In the UK, this approach has led to rising mental distress, relational breakdown, and a public health crisis in plain sight .
TL;DR
Neoliberalism used economic crises, think tanks, legal carries, performance targets, and pharma lobbying to shift mental health from a social justice issue to a market-managed dysfunction. Every step—from policy planning to public-private handoffs—shifted care inward, onto individual genes, behavior, and wallets.
Want to dig deeper?
-
How global institutions (World Bank, IMF, WHO) exported these logics abroad wired.com+7pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov+7injustice-film.com+7
-
Why “community care” became a hollow shell in neoliberal contexts pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov+2cambridge.org+2injustice-film.com+2
-
Success stories or resistance movements challenging this machine?
No comments:
Post a Comment