Abstract

PARALES-QUENZA, Carlos José; URREGO-MENDOZA, Zulma Consuelo  and  HERAZO-ACEVEDO, Edwin. The Unbearable Lightness of the National Mental Health Policy in Colombia: Reflections on the 2014 Amendment Proposal. Rev. Gerenc. Polit. Salud [online]. 2018, vol.17, n.34, pp.81-95. ISSN 1657-7027.  https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.rgps17-34.ilpn.

Despite good intentions, governments have found difficult to address the mental health. There have been several attempts in the last twenty years to formulate a national mental health policy in Colombia, all of which have found resistance on the part of society and institutions. We offer a recount of the multiple attempts to develop and implement a national policy of mental health, and discuss possible factors behind the failure to achieve a national mental health policy. Among the factors that account for the difficulty in formulating and implementing mental health policies are competing conceptualizations of mental health, barriers related to the characteristics of the health system, lack of political will, and the social stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with mental health problems.

Keywords : Health policy; mental health; public health; public policies; policy making; Colombia.

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