Psychiatry and mental health care in the classroom: A reflection on the potential effects of policy implementation

Abstract

Educational institutions are moving to apply mental health interventions in their classrooms. This is in many ways seen as a preventative public health intervention. However, the application of psychiatry to the classroom must be carefully considered, as there are risks to this that are not appreciated by the psychiatric establishment. Deep epistemic and ethical issues within psychiatry itself make its use outside of the clinic fraught. This short article reflects on these concerns from the point of view of a psychiatrist speaking to her colleagues. A call is made to reframe the boundaries of the concern from psychiatric disease to wellbeing.