ISPS-US is proud to be part of the growing movement challenging coercive practices in mental health systems and envisioning and promoting more humane, rights-based alternatives. As an organization, one of our most vital advocacy priorities is to stand against the rise of legislation that seeks to expand forced treatment across the USA.
As part of this ongoing work, we want to highlight a powerful new initiative, Abolish Forced Psychiatry, which brings together the voices of activists, psychiatric survivors, professionals, and family members to call for for the abolition of involuntary psychiatric and psychological interventions, including forced hospitalization and medication, and for the establishment of voluntary, community-rooted supports. It demands an end to the discrimination, criminalization, and carceral responses so often faced by people in distress, while calling us to recognize and address the social roots of suffering.
We at ISPS-US believe these voices are essential. They articulate a deep and longstanding critique of systems of power that have too often failed those they claim to serve, often worsening recovery outcomes and furthering the marginalization of people experiencing psychosis and extreme states. We urge our members, supporters, and broader community to read this initiative, reflect on its calls to action, and, if aligned, to sign on and share widely. You can read and sign the statements here.
ISPS-US has signed the statement in response to the crisis of the moment, as the Federal Government, and states such as California, New York, and Oregon have taken steps to lowering the threshold for civil commitment, which stands to increase harm to large numbers of people. Our endorsement reflects our belief in the urgent need to challenge the expansion of coercion and to work toward a mental health system rooted in voluntary, dignified, and socially responsive care.
However, this does not mean that we don’t encourage diversity of viewpoints and experience within our community. ISPS-US is a “big tent” membership organization made up of individuals with diverse and sometimes conflicting relationships to psychiatric systems, including people who feel that involuntary treatment helped them at a time of crisis. We honor these experiences alongside those of people who have been harmed. In line with our core principles, ISPS-US does not impose a singular perspective and instead promotes pluralism. We aim to create dialogic spaces where these multiple truths, realities, and experiences can be held.
We remain focused on building a future where forced treatment does not need to exist, not because people are abandoned, but because robust, non-coercive, compassionate, and liberatory alternatives are available to everyone who needs support.
