A growing call for crisis services

In this chapter we will attempt to give a representative picture of the views of mental health service users, on current acute mental health services and outline suggestions for improvement. As we are all based in Britain, our account will inevitably focus on the current British situation, but it is our belief that this mirrors the situation in many other countries Wherever user groups have emerged, they have consistently and independently come up with the demand for a better response to people experiencing a mental health crisis. There are a number of common complaints. Sometimes the system offers next to nothing:

Sometimes it offers admission to the acute unit of a district general hospital, which may be experienced as bewildering or unhelpful:

Sometimes it involves the use of legal powers or other forms of control.