New World Health Organisation and UN Human Rights Guidance

“The change aims to dismantle the influence of western medical beliefs rooted in colonial history and establish a more just, inclusive mental health framework.  At Neurodiverse Connection we support this.”

Dear all,  I’m personally feeling very vindicated by the and wanted to share the blog I wrote for NdC about this latest guidance. The future paradigm is incoming …


"October 9th, 2023, World Health Organisation and the UN Human Rights Office jointly published the ‘Mental health, human rights and legislation: guidance and practice’

At Neurodiverse Connection we welcome and celebrate this step away from the medical model of mental health (which posits that mental distress is an illness, resulting from brain abnormality, genetics or biochemical imbalances, to be treated with psychiatric drugs, restraint and detention) and step instead towards social models (which suggest that mental distress is due to socio-economic, cultural and environmental oppression, stigma and social exclusion), human rights and trauma-informed approaches (which move away from pathologizing and asking ‘what’s wrong with you?’ to exploring the question ‘what happened to you that has caused this understandable mental distress you are experiencing?’). 

This is aligned with the development and training work we are already doing around addressing inequality with CAMHS, Mental Health Services and NHS trusts.

At Neurodiverse Connection we support an improved understanding of neurodiversity in health and social care with the aim of challenging stigma and discrimination and the consideration of intersectionality, continually appraising how we can support the amplification of views and voices that are often unseen and unheard. 

Our Neurodivergent Friendly Train the Trainer Wellbeing Approach is trauma-informed, integrative, and comprehensive and we also deliver nervous system focused training sessions focused on regulation and restraint reduction. 

In addition, we advocate for shifts in culture in NHS Mental Health Services towards a relational, co-regulation and embodiment paradigm, focusing on advocacy for radically rethinking approaches to eating disorders and self-harm by taking an intersectional lens and addressing systemic and sensory oppression, and social exclusion."

Extract from my latest Neurodiverse Connection blog about this document.