Why choice

Why choice is important

Why choice?

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The choices we make and how we make them

Choices are constantly being made. Sometimes we are free to make these choices and sometimes they are forced upon us. Choices can be small and seemingly trivial, such as what to have for lunch or what to watch on television. Other choices are more significant, such as what to do about relationships, housing and employment. We can spend a lot of time considering what the best choices are for us.

 

The choices we make are influenced by many factors, such as our intellectual abilities and the way we perceive ourselves in relation to the society we live in. We are also affected by our culture and the mass media. Many of the choices we make are influenced by social and economic factors, and we may think we have more freedom of choice than we actually do.

 

Service users with mental health problems face the same challenges in life as everyone else, and they have to make similar choices in their day-to-day lives.

 

Daily choices

• Housing (where to live, what type of house)
• Employment
• Relationships
• Meaningful activities
• Education (where to study, what to study, what level)
• Lifestyle (diet, exercise, drugs, alcohol, sex, smoking)

For healthy people, a lot of these daily choices - though at times potentially stressful - are taken for granted. However, mental illness usually has an indirect impact on the way those with it make personal choices, and often service users may be constrained by their own limitations (lack of knowledge, information, capacity)¹. In addition to life choices, people with mental health problems also have unique choices to make about their treatment. Making choices can be complex, service users need appropriate and sufficient information to enable them to make informed choices¹.

 

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