Scottish Union of Mental Patients explained

The Scottish Union of Mental Patients was an organisation first established by mental patients at Hartwood Hospital in July 1971.[1] 27 patients signed a petition to "redress of grievances and better conditions" at the hospital.[1] This was the first Mental Patients Union to be formed in the UK and predated the Mental Patients' Union founded in London in 1973.[2] It was founded by ,Thomas Ritchie, and Robin Farquharson was also a participant.[3] Unlike many other examples of anti-psychiatry SUMP was based on a sense of solidarity amongst a small group of patients detained in locked wards.[1]

Origins

The idea of a union for inmates of mental hospitals was first posed by Archie Meek, a 91 year old geriatric patient. He made this remark to Thomas Ritchie, another patient who was helping Archie shave at the time.[2] Ritchie was at the time a state patient – a provision under Scottish Law for the indeterminate detention of a mental patient – under which he was detained for 8 years.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gallacher. Mark. From mental patient to service user: deinstitutionalisation and the emergence of the Mental Health Service User Movement in Scotland, 1971-2006.. theses.gla.ac.uk/. Glasgow University. 26 July 2017.
  2. Web site: Scotland the Brave - User movement roots - by Andrew Roberts . Studymore.org.uk . 2017-07-27.
  3. Book: Spandler. Helen. Asylum to Action: Paddington Day Hospital, Therapeutic Communities and Beyond. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 4 March 2018. en. 17 February 2006. 9781846424878.