Conference Review
Autonomy and Mental Health
7-8 January 2010
The main ambition for organising this interdisciplinary event was to provide a forum for constructive dialogue between philosophers, mental health practitioners, and legal experts whose work relates to the concepts of autonomy and mental health. A related objective was to spell out key interrelations between these two fundamental, yet challenging concepts, which are rarely discussed in connection to one another. Finally, the event aimed to deepen and expand our understanding of the role of autonomy in psychiatry and promote an inclusive, de-stigmatising approach to mental disorders.
The conference both achieved and expanded beyond its initial objectives. For instance, it identified and explored the underlying connections between the concept of autonomy, on the one hand, and those of decisional capacity and mental disorder, on the other. This helped break-down the broader concept of mental health to more specific notions and to provide a clearer focus for the discussion. Similarly, autonomy was examined in light of co-existing, alternative conceptions. This strategy enabled us to expand the initial theoretical framework for addressing both issues of autonomy and mental health and led to identifying further promising lines of inquiry.
An important intellectual outcome of the event was the formation of an original, heuristic methodology for clarifying autonomy and related concepts by identifying the specific threats that appeals to autonomy are meant to forestall. This methodology facilitates interdisciplinary, yet cohesive research as it requires that we make explicit and compare the background assumptions of complementary disciplines and fields of expertise.
The event engaged a much wider participation than anticipated. In addition to the three initial target groups: philosophers, psychiatrists, and legal experts, the conference attracted GPs, social workers, anthropologists, as well as representatives of charitable organisations and patient rights groups. Furthermore, the conference attendance was broadly international, with participants from the USA, Japan, South Africa, and many European countries.
The constructive spirit of the event and the diverse background of the participants contributed to fruitful and stimulating discussions which not only broadened our respective intellectual horizons, but equally strengthened the conceptual and methodological grounds of our work. I have received very positive feedback from the conference participants, most of whom also expressed keen interest in taking part in follow-up events and further collaborative projects. In response, I will be running two interactive workshops at the Cambridge Faculty of Philosophy: “Substance-Related Disorders and Personal Autonomy” (26 February 2010) and “Depression and Dysthymia as Possible Challenges to Autonomy” (12 March 2010). These events will enable us to further develop the rigorous, interdisciplinary strategy to analyzing autonomy in psychiatric contexts that emerged from the conference, as well as engage in prospective collaborations. Details about the workshops and further initiatives will be posted on the website of the underlying research project “Autonomy and Mental Health at: http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/news_events/autonomy_mental_health.html
Dr Lubomira Radoilska
Wellcome Trust Research Fellow and
Affiliated Lecturer
Faculty of Philosophy
University of Cambridge
lr271@cam.ac.uk
