Mental Health Advocacy · Australia
You are not
chemically broken.
You are human.
The Not Broken Project advocates for a fundamental shift in how Australia understands and treats mental distress — away from a medication-first model, and toward the social, environmental, and developmental roots of human suffering.
Why this project is critical
5 million +
Australians
Over a fifth of the population are taking mind-altering drugs for emotional distress or behavioural challenges.
1–3%
Serious mental illness
Yet only 1-3% of Australians suffer what’s known as serious mental illness. Others may benefit from more targeted, holistic care.
The Problem
A false theory is shaping how
millions are treated
The ‘chemical imbalance’ hypothesis — that emotional distress reflects a biological malfunction requiring drugs — was never supported by scientific evidence. Yet it has justified widespread prescription of psychotropic medications across Australia for decades.
Social, environmental, and developmental factors play a major role in mental distress. Drugs don’t address these roots. And withdrawing from them can be profoundly difficult.
Disempowering diagnoses
Telling someone their brain is broken for life is stigmatising and — in most cases — scientifically false. Validation of symptoms should not become a sentence.
Harmful side effects & withdrawal
The negative effects of psychiatric drugs can be life-altering. Withdrawal is frequently difficult and prolonged, yet almost no support infrastructure exists in Australia.
Roots left untreated
Social, relational, and developmental causes of distress go unaddressed when medication is the default response. People deserve care that reaches the actual source.
Distorted government spending
Current drug-based approaches lead to ineffective use of public resources and discourage the development of better, more targeted solutions.
“Amy wasn’t suffering from depression caused by abandonment. Rather, she was suffering from abandonment in a way that fit the pattern of depression. Depression was the manifestation, not the explanation.”
Case Studies — Dislocated distress, drugs not needed
Project Goals
Three aims.
One clear direction.
Our aim is that most people seeking help for mental distress or behavioural challenges will access support without being left feeling they have a broken brain or lifelong deficit that can only be helped by biomedical intervention.
There will be greater attention to and support for social and interpersonal solutions that help people manage their particular circumstances.
When doctors prescribe drugs to relieve mental distress or behavioural challenges, they will do so understanding that in most cases they are suppressing symptoms, not correcting an underlying chemical imbalance.
Project goals
01
Raise awareness
We encourage the public, medical professionals, and policymakers to think more critically about the use of diagnostic labels and related prescribing of psychotropic drugs.
02
Support practitioners
Help medical practitioners better serve patients through a solid understanding of what psychotropic drugs can and cannot do, their side effects, and the difficulty of withdrawing from them.
03
Change policy
Change government policies to reduce the personal, social, and economic costs of ignoring what patients — and science — are telling us about how distress should be understood and treated.
Case Studies
What better care
looks like
- Post-natal, Rethinking
- Adolescent, Rethinking
- Rethinking, Workplace
Our Steering Committee
Researchers, clinicians
& lived experience
Professor Jon Jureidini
Doctor Pamela Lyon, PhD
Doctor Paul Denborough
Rachel Barbara-May
Rebekah Beddoe
Michael Short
Siswella Lanzillotti
Lisa Button
Alicia Martin
Share Your Story
Your experience
matters to this work
If you’ve experienced unwanted or excessive medicalisation of emotional distress — medication side effects, difficult withdrawal, or being misunderstood by the system — we invite you to share your story.
Every account helps us understand how widespread these issues are and strengthens the case for systemic change.