The psychiatric care system in Slovenia is in desperate need of a reform. The laws governing mental health care are outdated and the biomedical model is still the prevailing paradigm of care for those with mental health issues. Different forms of care are not easily attainable, and in some cases, like with psychotherapy, they pose a big monetary cost which many can not afford. My graduation thesis is a case study of my own encounters with the psychiatric care system in Slovenia. I focused on the contrast between legal and theoretical basis of the system, and my experiences as a service user. Using the timetable analysis research technique, I contextualised relevant events in my life into experiences I have had with different mental health services. Basing the findings from a viewpoint of a psychiatric system service user as well as a social work student, I further analyzed their effectiveness and efficiency. The reality of the system being unreliable first started to show with teachers, as their un-familiarity with the theory of early life trauma left them unable to provide the necessary care to children in distress. I have experienced these and other similar substandard forms of care by experts throughout my life. That led to consequences I still contend with today. With this thesis I wanted to provide actual examples of how the system of care combats different crises and how the majority are unacceptable forms of care, while also highlighting some best practice examples.
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