I may be wrong about this, but I have an idea that one mistake people in power and authority keep making is this. When things aren’t going to plan, the answer is to keep doing the same thing but with greater effort and resources.

So: for many years, governments have been increasing the funding, resources, and workforce provided to our mental health services. And yet, there has been no measurable improvement in the mental health of the nation. In fact, things have become decidedly worse, as the figures show.

Most professionals in the mental health services (and indeed the public who use these services) claim that this lack of progress is because the increase in resources and funding has been insufficient. Their message is, 'We are doing the right thing, but we need to be enabled to do more of the same.' And the government does its best to oblige.

Perhaps instead, we should step back and take a wider view. Maybe, rather than simply blaming the government, the professionals should be saying to themselves, 'Despite all the extra resources, things are getting worse. So, what are WE doing wrong?'