Krise als Chance?! …

Crisis as Opportunity?! – The phrase may sound trite and neoliberal. However, the approach itself arguably entails a constructive, emancipatory potential, when applied not to the individual level, but considered in a wider institutional and global context. Our article discusses the dynamics between individual mental distress and the structural crises characterizing the mental healthcare sector. Its current climax can be a turning point, potentially opening innovative avenues. Participatory projects in low- and middle-income countries can inspire new ideas for community support. The implementation of peer projects, which employ people with lived experience of mental health issues as peer workers, can make a deep positive impact. Peer support can help to decrease stigmatizing ideas about psychiatric diagnoses and increase patients‘ sense of self-efficacy. Peers should not be (ab)used to ‚repair‘ a structurally deficient healthcare system. Instead, there is need for substantial change and a more humane mental healthcare sector for all patients and professionals. The introduction of participatory research and community care projects involving peer workers is also highly desirable.