Collective memory and mental health: Limitations, provocations, possibilities

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry and Mental Health Services Research
• Social Psychology of Memory
• Healthcare Policy and Practice

Background:

• Contemporary inpatient mental health care prioritizes crisis containment and risk management.
• Current practices offer limited opportunities for memory exploration outside of therapy sessions.
• This leads to the privatization and social detachment of service users' memories.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine historical shifts in memory management within mental health services.
• To advocate for collective and collaborative approaches to service users' memories.
• To explore how these practices can support patients and staff, fostering recovery and social action.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of historical trends in mental health service memory management.
• Qualitative insights derived from work within secure psychiatric settings.
• Theoretical argument for integrating collective memory practices into service delivery.

Main Results:

• Inpatient care currently offers minimal space for memory practices beyond formal therapy.
• Collective memory practices can enhance awareness of past-present interpretations and social connections.
• These practices are largely absent in UK mental health services but integral to other care sectors.

Conclusions:

• Collective memory practices are crucial for advancing recovery and social action in mental health.
• Integrating these approaches can create new pathways connecting past, present, and future for service users.
• There is a need to incorporate these collaborative memory strategies into UK mental health services.