Medicines and mental health

The election manifesto points out that mental ill-health is increasing among young people without leading to expanded care, and the plan wants to invest broadly in care with special emphasis on primary care and evidence-based prioritization according to need. Investigating guidelines for prescribing and tapering psychotropic drugs to children and young people, and the effects of insufficient psychological support in primary care, is in line with this. The plan does not specifically discuss psychotropic drugs, but about care quality and knowledge base.

• expanded care for mental ill-healthdecisive»Stressrelaterade sjukdomar blir allt vanligare och psykisk ohälsa ökar särskilt bland kvinnor och hos unga utan att det leder till utbyggd vård eller förändrad arbetsmiljö.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stress-related illnesses become ever more common and mental ill-health increases particularly among women and young people without leading to expanded care or changed working environment.”
• high quality throughout care»investera brett i vården så att den håller hög kvalitet i alla delar.« (party programme ↗)“invest broadly in care so it maintains high quality in all parts.”
• evidence-based care»Sjukvården ska vara heltäckande, bygga på« (party programme ↗)“Healthcare should be comprehensive, based on”
• strengthened primary care»Resurserna till hälso- och sjukvården måste öka för att täcka behoven« (party programme ↗)“Resources for healthcare must increase to meet needs”

The plan wants to step up oversight of healthcare to guarantee quality and establishes that children's best interests shall be considered and that all children have the right to a safe upbringing. Guidelines for prescription and tapering of psychopharmaceuticals for children and young people, with better follow-up and patient safety, are an application of the same quality requirements. Psychopharmaceuticals are not explicitly mentioned, but the plan supports the counter-proposal's demands in substance.

• strengthened oversight for qualitydecisive»Tillsynen av sjukvården ska växlas upp för att garantera kvaliteten.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Oversight of healthcare shall be stepped up to guarantee quality.”
• the convention on the rights of the child as foundation»Alla barn ska ha rätt till en trygg uppväxt i enlighet med FN:s barnkonvention.« (party programme ↗)“All children shall have the right to a safe upbringing in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
• quality before economic considerations»För att säkra kvaliteten, hindra att råd ges av ekonomiska skäl och att förhindra att känsliga uppgifter hamnar i fel händer, vill vi att 1177 drivs i offentlig regi.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“To ensure quality, prevent advice from being given for economic reasons and prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands, we want 1177 to be run in the public sector.”
• healthcare distributes life chances»Skola, vård och omsorg har en central roll för fördelningen av möjligheter i livet.« (party programme ↗)“School, healthcare and care have a central role in the distribution of opportunities in life.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The election manifesto wants to invest in primary care and increase access to mental health services, and the party programme wants to develop alternatives to medicines since current medicine consumption is a problem for both patient safety and the environment. The plan also requires that psychiatric and psychological expertise in primary care is strong and quality assured and that no patient shall come to harm. Guidelines for prescribing and stepping down psychopharmaceuticals for children and young people follow directly from these commitments.

• mental health servicesdecisive»satsa på primärvården och öka tillgången till vård för psykisk ohälsa.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“invest in primary care and increase access to mental health services.”
• reduced medicine consumption»läkemedelskonsumtionen i dag är ett problem« (party programme ↗)“medicine consumption today is a problem”
• psychological expertise in primary care»Den psykiatriska och psykologiska kompetensen i« (party programme ↗)“The psychiatric and psychological expertise in”
• patient safety first»En av grundprinciperna i vården är att ingen« (party programme ↗)“One of the fundamental principles in healthcare is that no”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The election manifesto makes high mental health problems among children and young people a separate commitment: the queues to child and adolescent psychiatric services shall be eliminated, the path into care shall be simple and integrated and care shall have better treatment tools. The counter-proposal's requirement for guidelines on prescription and reduction of psychopharmaceuticals, better monitoring and investigation of psychological support in primary care are measures within precisely this commitment. However, the plan does not take a position on prescription guidelines as such.

• better support young people mental healthdecisive»Stödet för personer med psykisk ohälsa måste förbättras, inte minst för unga. Den som söker hjälp ska ha en enkel och samlad väg in till vården. Köerna till BUP måste arbetas bort.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Support for those with mental health problems must be improved, not least for young people. Those seeking help shall have a simple and integrated path into care. Queues to child and adolescent psychiatric services must be worked away.”
• psychological support in primary care»Samarbetet mellan elevhälsovården och primärvårdspsykiatrin måste öka och köerna till BUP kortas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Collaboration between school health services and primary care psychiatry must increase and queues to child and adolescent psychiatric services be shortened.”
• better treatment tools»Vi vill att den som söker vård ska erbjudas en enkel väg in för stöd och hjälp, att vården ska få bättre verktyg för behandling och att sjukskrivningen ska bli mer flexibel.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want those seeking care to be offered a simple path for support and help, care to have better treatment tools and sick leave to become more flexible.”
• influence over own care»psykisk ohälsa eller missbruksproblem måste ha inflytande över sitt liv och få det stöd som behövs.« (party programme ↗)“Must have influence over their lives and receive the support they need.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The party programme requires that care and treatment of mental illness is provided on scientific basis, that all treatment of mental ill-health is covered by patient safety law and that children's and young people's special needs are considered in all healthcare. The counter-proposal's requirements for guidelines on prescribing and tapering of psychopharmaceuticals to children and young people as well as better follow-up and patient safety follow directly from these commitments. That primary care should be responsible for milder mental ill-health also supports the criticism of lacking psychological support there.

• care on scientific basisdecisive»Vård, behandling och rehabilitering av fysiska och psykiska sjukdomar ska ges på vetenskaplig« (party programme ↗)“Care, treatment and rehabilitation of physical and mental illnesses shall be provided on scientific”
• patient safety for mental ill-health»Även all behandling av psykisk ohälsa ska omfattas av« (party programme ↗)“Even all treatment of mental ill-health shall be covered by”
• children's special needs»Barns och ungas särskilda behov ska beaktas i all hälso- och sjukvård.« (party programme ↗)“Children's and young people's special needs shall be considered in all healthcare.”
• mental ill-health in primary care»Primärvården bör ansvara för patienter med mildare psykisk ohälsa.« (party programme ↗)“Primary care should be responsible for patients with milder mental ill-health.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The party programme places particular emphasis on rapid and accessible expertise for children and young people with mental health problems and requires that psychiatry be characterized by accessibility based on the patient's needs and that care is patient-safe and evidence-based. The election manifesto furthermore wants to significantly strengthen school health services and integrated child and adolescent health services. Guidelines for prescription and tapering of psychopharmaceuticals as well as improved monitoring are in line with this.

• prioritised child and adolescent psychiatrydecisive»Särskild vikt ska läggas vid snabb och tillgänglig kompetens för barn och ungdom med psykisk ohälsa.« (party programme ↗)“Special emphasis shall be placed on rapid and accessible expertise for children and young people with mental health problems.”
• strengthened child and adolescent health services»Kraftigt stärkt elevhälsa med en sammanhållen barn- och ungdomshälsovård och föräldrastödsprogram som erbjuds alla föräldrar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Significantly strengthened school health services with integrated child and adolescent health services and parental support programmes offered to all parents.”
• patient-safe evidence-based care»säker för patienterna och baserad på kunskap och beprövad erfarenhet« (party programme ↗)“safe for patients and based on knowledge and proven experience”
• needs-based psychiatry»Psykiatrisk vård och omsorg ska präglas av tillgänglighet och flexibilitet utifrån patientens behov.« (party programme ↗)“Psychiatric care and services shall be characterized by accessibility and flexibility based on the patient's needs.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan ranks children's and young people's mental health highly and commits to strengthening child and adolescent psychiatry, introducing a care guarantee for children and developing a national strategy against suicide. Demands that an authority investigate guidelines for prescription and reduction of psychopharmaceuticals and monitoring and patient safety within psychiatry align with that prioritization. The plan however does not specially mention the prescription of psychopharmaceuticals.

• strengthened child and adolescent psychiatrydecisive»Stärka barn- och ungdomspsykiatrin så att barn och unga som mår dåligt får hjälp snabbt« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strengthen child and adolescent psychiatry so children and young people who are struggling get help quickly”
• children's mental health prioritized»Få saker är viktigare att prioritera än barns psykiska mående.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Few things are more important to prioritize than children's mental well-being.”
• national strategy against suicide»Ta fram en nationell strategi mot självmord, med särskilt fokus på barn och unga« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Develop a national strategy against suicide, with particular focus on children and young people”
• care guarantee for children»Införa en ny lagstadgad vårdgaranti för barn« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Introduce a new statutory care guarantee for children”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan wants effective treatment measures such as talk therapy to be offered to a greater extent and requires a national strategy and a research program for mental health. It also advocates standardized follow-up within psychiatric care. The counter-proposal's requirement for guidelines on prescribing and tapering psychopharmaceuticals for children and young people and better follow-up lies in that direction, although not explicitly mentioned.

• therapy before medicationdecisive»Effektiva behandlingsåtgärder, i form av exempelvis samtalsterapi, bör i högre grad erbjudas för att den psykiska hälsan hos patienten inte ska riskera att försämras.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Effective treatment measures, such as talk therapy, should be offered to a greater extent so that the patient's mental health does not risk deteriorating.”
• national strategy for mental health»Ta fram en nationell strategi för det fortsatta arbetet med psykisk hälsa« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Develop a national strategy for ongoing work on mental health”
• standardized follow-up»Verka för standardiserad uppföljning av självmordsnära« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work for standardized follow-up of those close to suicide”
• research on mental illness»Inrätta ett nationellt forskningsprogram inom området psykisk hälsa« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Establish a national research program in the field of mental health”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.