“Mad for our rights”: Community, mental health and citizenship in contemporary Chile

Abstract

The following article addresses a critical analysis of Chile's Mental Health public policies, highlighting its conception of the community approach as an expression of a State that does not dialogue with society. In accordance with a qualitative and participatory investigative process, a global perspective towards the recognition, exercise and defense of rights in Mental Health from users and ex-users’ perspectives is described. It is concluded that the protagonism of these social actors constitutes a central aspect for the distribution of power and the recovery of citizenship rights. Finally, the key points of the participatory process allow us to understand the role of community facilitation and militant research towards the reconstruction of associative ties and collective actions in mental health.