A Scoping Review of Critical and Diverse Perspectives of Mental Distress and How They Might be Useful for Mental Health Social Work.

While the biomedical model of mental health remains dominant in healthcare provision, there is increasing recognition of the diversity of understandings of mental distress within society. This range of perspectives is shaped by lived experiences, social positions and identities including those related to gender, ‘race’, ethnicity, culture, religion, sexuality, disability, neurodiversity, social class, as well as their interactions and intersections.

This proposal outlines the first stage of a plan to develop learning resources to support practitioners in learning about diverse and critical perspectives on mental distress and how to explore ways in which these perspectives can be used in practice.

The presentation will present findings from the first stage of the project, which consists of a detailed scoping review of critical and diverse perspectives on mental distress. The presentation will detail the key messages drawn from the literature on diverse and critical perspectives on mental distress. As part of the presentation, there will be a discussion of sociological concepts evident in the literature and their relevance to mental health social work.

The presentation will also include the initial feedback on the second stage of the project which involves a roundtable discussion with a panel of experts, who will be asked to appraise and select specific critical and diverse perspectives to be included in learning resources for practitioners and students. The round table discussion will include People with Lived Experience of mental distress, experienced social worker practitioners and those involved in the academic study of mental distress.

The presentation aims to contribute to the overall conference theme of ‘Justice in the Anthropocene’, by recognising the salience of critical and diverse perspectives on mental distress, informed by sociological thought. These perspectives can offer social work and other professions vital tools for promoting social justice within a biomedically dominated world of mental health.