This article continues directly from Part 1, where Dr. Pat Bracken reflected on his journey into psychiatry, the importance of critical thinking and the growing influence of pharmaceutical approaches to mental health.

This is an edited version of Remembering Who We Are: Community, Connection and Creativity - Dr. Pat Bracken in Conversation with Dr. Feargal MacIonnrachtaigh, that took place in Newhill Youth and Community Centre on Monday 11 May 2026, as part of Féile na gCloigíní Gorma.

You can view a video recording of the event here 

Question: Are psychiatric medications useful?

Dr. Bracken was clear that he is not anti-medication.

Throughout his career as a psychiatrist, he prescribed medication himself and believes psychiatric drugs can be lifesaving during severe mental health crises.

His concern lies with over-prescribing medication for everyday experiences of sadness, anxiety, and emotional distress.

He argued that medication should always be prescribed carefully, with honest conversations about side effects, withdrawal, and long-term use, rather than becoming the default response whenever people struggle.

Communities, relationships, counselling, meaningful activity, and social connection should all be considered before medication becomes the first option.

Question: What does decolonising mental health mean?

Returning to his experiences in Uganda and later in New Zealand, Dr. Bracken described how many cultures already possess rich traditions for understanding distress.

Working alongside Māori practitioners, he witnessed approaches rooted in family, genealogy, storytelling, and spirituality rather than diagnosis or medication.

Instead of separating individuals from their communities, these approaches strengthened relationships and cultural identity.

For Dr. Bracken, every community has its own traditions, rituals and shared stories that can help people navigate suffering without immediately translating those experiences into medical diagnoses.

Question: What alternatives should we invest in?

Throughout the conversation Dr. Bracken returned repeatedly to one central message: healing is fundamentally social.

Reflecting on Uganda, he noted that communities recovering from war rarely asked first for therapists or psychiatric clinics.

Instead, they wanted schools reopened, markets functioning again, community spaces restored and opportunities to rebuild life together.

People recovered through belonging, meaningful work, creativity, shared purpose, and stronger communities.

Dr. Bracken suggested that this is precisely why New Script for Mental Health is so significant. Rather than simply asking for more clinical services, the campaign encourages society to rethink what genuine mental health support should look like and to invest in community-led alternatives.

Final Question: Why isn't more funding alone the answer?

Dr. Bracken concluded by challenging a common political assumption—that solving the mental health crisis simply requires spending more money on existing services.

While acknowledging that services need adequate resources, he argued that investing more money into a system built on the same assumptions will not produce different outcomes.

Instead, society must first ask what kinds of support genuinely help people.

He pointed to community gardens, local organisations, shared activities, and spaces where people build resilience together as examples of investments that strengthen wellbeing long before medical intervention becomes necessary.

His closing message echoed the philosophy behind New Script for Mental Health.

If current approaches are not delivering better outcomes, then the answer is not simply to do more of the same. It is to think differently, drawing on community, creativity, culture, and human connection to create a new script for mental health.