The paper reaffirms the importance of lay rationalities that are produced in the Mental Health field as valid expressions of knowledge, with special attention to the ethical aspects related to the social use of knowledge. The paper argues that those rationalities should serve to create innovative strategies to effectively address the needs of people and act as a counterweight to the hegemonic logic. The context of governance of Mental Health in Portugal and the structural characteristics of the Portuguese society are reflected in the services as they are effectively implemented and in the users´ perception about their condition. The appreciation of lay rationalities in a context ruled by biomedical and technical aspects enables to reaffirm diversity as a human condition. Therefore it is a basic tenet for an approach to complex and plural realities such as mental health, incorporating the cultural dimension to the actions developed.
Lay rationalities; Portuguese mental health; Deinstitutionalization