What is one myth about mental health system that needs to be challenged?

– The belief that professionals and clinicians always know what’s best for people with mental health conditions overlooks the essential role of lived experience in shaping effective, inclusive care. Challenging this myth is about shifting from building systems FOR people with mental health conditions to co-creating systems WITH them. Only collaborative, inclusive systems where professional knowledge and lived experience expertise work together, can mental health care become truly responsive and equitable.

About Charlene Sunkel

Charlene is the CEO of aves Mental Health, which she founded and launched in 2018. With a lived experience, Ms Sunkel is a global advocate for the rights of people with mental health conditions. Her contributions extend to authoring and co-authoring numerous papers from a lived experience perspective for well-regarded international publications. She is Editor-in-Chief at PLOS Mental Health. Ms Sunkel’s has served as a Commissioner on the Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health and Sustainable Development, and on the Lancet Commission on the Future of Psychiatry. She Co-Chaired the Lancet Commission on Ending Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health. Ms. Sunkel lends her expertise to various international boards and committees. Previously, she contributed her insights as a member of the South African Presidential Working Group on Disability and the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Mental Health. She served as a former Principal Coordinator for the Movement for Global Mental Health. Ms. Sunkel have been recognised through national and international awards, including Inseta Women’s Award, Tributes Award for Human Rights, Jim Birley Scholarship, Swiss Foundation/ WHO Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Mental Health, the Pardes Humanitarian Prize in Mental Health, WPA Presidential Commendation, AMHROA Mental Health Advocacy and Humanitarian Award.