What are the barriers to recovery?

Last month I was lucky enough to attend and present at the Building Bridges Conference in Wellington, and I felt compelled to blog on one of the prevailing issues – are we any closer to working collaboratively within our communities and services to achieve the best possible outcomes for people with experience of mental illness?

It seems fitting that the name of this conference – Building Bridges - was also a reflection of one of the growing concerns voiced by a number of delegates and presenters that there was still an absence of ‘bridges’ or, should I say, collaboration across sectors, regions and various philosophical/political approaches.  It seems the ‘mental health sector’ (and other areas of health, labour and social welfare) still has a long way to go before we can say we are all working together.  

The theme of the conference was Evolving Communities Beyond Services, and this idea of responding to mental distress beyond the scope of simple service provision was resounding throughout the three days.

From a Like Minds perspective, this is great to hear because when we look at mental distress from a social and prevention perspective, it is vitally important to acknowledge the impact of the wider social context to recovery. This includes being able to access opportunities – like employment, education, housing and vocational training – as well as events within the community that link us to our social environment, make us feel included and provide us with a sense of wellbeing.

What do you think?  What are the barriers to us all working together?


Vanessa Cooper, Mental Health Promoter – Like Minds, Like Mine