The Not Broken Project

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.

Ultimately, our hope is that a greater share of medical resources will be deployed to support the 1-2% of Australians who suffer serious mental illness and that the spending on less severe cases will be directed towards more appropriate interventions that target the underlying issues rather than trying to suppress symptoms with drugs.

Pamela Lyon, PhD

Pamela is an independent scholar affiliated with the University of Adelaide who researches the biology and evolution of cognition. In 1994 she was prescribed an antidepressant (paroxetine) for relatively mild OCD and told she would need it the rest of her life due to a chemical imbalance in her brain. A neuroscientist colleague in the US sent her an article in November 2022 arguing that the scientific basis for prescription of the class of drugs she was on is unsound and likely false, a distressing claim she confirmed through her own research in the peer-reviewed literature. She learned that withdrawing from the specific drug she had been taking for three decades was likely to be rough and prolonged but that staying on it presented higher-than-normal risks for breast cancer and dementia. She wrote about her difficult withdrawal experience, which commenced in January 2023, in a column entitled "On not becoming David Foster Wallace" for the website Mad in America.   

Paul Denborough

Paul is a psychiatrist who brings an innovative style to his work in transforming mental health services. With over 20 years of experience in the public health system, he currently serves as the Clinical Director of Alfred Health’s Infant, Child and Youth Area Mental Health and Wellbeing Service, as well as its headspace centres. Throughout his career, Paul has remained deeply committed to improving the lives of young people and their families. He played a role in developing Australia’s first headspace centre in 2007, a ground-breaking youth Early Psychosis service, and the Discovery College – an initiative that creates learning spaces to support understanding and change in how we think and talk about mental health. Paul is well recognised for implementing progressive programs and cultural changes across the mental health sector and contributed to The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System in 2019. Paul approaches his work with a strength-based and solution-focused mindset, continuously aiming to help alleviate mental distress for young people and their families.

Jon Jureidini

Jon is a child psychiatrist whose work is grounded in a deep commitment to ethical, compassionate, and inclusive mental health care. In addition to his medical training, Jon holds a PhD in philosophy from Flinders University and has pursued trainings in critical appraisal (University of British Columbia) and psychotherapy (Tavistock Clinic), reflecting his broad, thoughtful approach to mental health. He leads the Critical and Ethical Mental Health (CEMH) research group at the University of Adelaide, which conducts research, teaching, and advocacy to promote safer, more effective, and more ethical research and practice in mental health. Jon also heads the Paediatric Mental Health Training Unit (PMHTU) that provides training and support to medical students, GPs, allied health professionals, teachers, and counsellors in developing non-pathologising approaches to mental health in primary care. Over his three decades at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide (1990–2021), Jon’s clinical work included child protection, immigration detention, and remote Indigenous mental health care, demonstrating his commitment to helping young people and those who care for them. 

Rachel Barbara-May  

Rachel is a social work practitioner with a deep commitment to collaborative, non-pathologising approaches in mental health care. She is also a trainer and supervisor in Open Dialogue and Dialogical Practices, drawing on more than 20 years of experience in public mental health services. Her practice has focused on supporting children, young people, and families in areas of child and family therapy, single-session work, eating disorders, and first-episode psychosis. Over the past eight years, Rachel has played a leading role in introducing dialogic and relational practices at Alfred Health through thoughtful service design, workforce development, and training. Rachel also co-hosts the Extremely Human podcast from Discovery College, where people can share stories about big life experiences, such as psychosis, grief, and addiction, in a grounded and respectful space.  She is committed to offering non-pathologising responses to people experiencing distress in ways that honour individuals and their support networks.