Mental health services in Iceland

"Kleppsspitali", the biggest long term mental health care facility in Iceland, his role is changing, perhaps too slowly?



We enjoy universal health care coverage in Iceland. We have one of the lowest infant mortality rates and the highest life expectancy rates in the world. But we still have a lot of problems in our health care system, like anywhere else in the world.

This is especially true for our mental health care system. Talk of moving the bulk of the services into the community is common, but practical action is slow to take place. We have started taking some action. Experience from countries like Denmark and the UK help, and user groups make a strong lobby group with increasing numbers of celebrities and politicians stepping up to the plate and talking openly about their struggle with mental illness. This helps reduce stigma in the community and is empoering for other users.

Still we have a long way to go. There is hope. We see how we have built up a powerful substance abuse treatment field and attitudes towards substance abuse in the communiuty are rather healthy, I would think. That is a field were the users of the system took the initiative.

Perhaps that is the key for other areas of psychiatry as well?