Posted by Dirk Corstens on 4/6/26
Marius Romme passed away. Coincidentally, I am sitting on a terrace in Maastricht. Beers with it. Nuts. Maastricht, that’s where it happened. Then. Marius was a real social psychiatrist. That means that you look at everything from that perspective and try to solve it. Just like biological – I don’t understand why they hijacked that word, biology is really something else – psychiatrists mainly want to solve everything with the right classifications and pills. I wanted to make that perspective my own, and the only one who could teach me that was Romme. That’s why I started the training in Maastricht. Not that I didn’t find biology interesting, but because this perspective was so incredibly neglected. Systems theory, that was what appealed to me. Each level has its own story and solution. Without the social level, you can’t do anything. He had already written ‘What is Social Psychiatry’. Social Roles, Social Networks were made concretely operational and researchable. When I came to have a look, he was already hearing voices. It’s fantastic that you ask a television audience to be helped. Because your knowledge is lacking. Social psychiatry at its best! A lot of people responded. They were mobilized, they were questioned. Conferences about hearing voices. Congresses by voice-hearers. Experiential knowledge. Care providers outside the mental health care system. I have been allowed to speak to voice-hearers who were never patients. Voice-hearers became friends. Hearing voices is a human trait. Hearing voices can become a burden, but most people can handle it. Voice Dialogue, a vision/method that also proved useful with voice hearers. Ultimately successful research in England (2026). Empowerment, emancipation, self-help, words that were concretized in self-help groups, networks, in an international movement: the International Hearing Voices Network. Brazil, fantastic what an energy. England, activism. Denmark, continue steadily. Japan, who understood what it was all about. USA, embrace those voices. Germany, practical elaboration. France, loose energy. Spain, overwhelming interest. Greece, huge passion. Australia, continental change. Western Balkans, communication steadily. The Netherlands, the Maastricht model is now really an option, thanks to Weerklank, and because Marius and Sandra no longer interfere with it. Strange, the latter. You have pioneers and people who carry it out. Without pioneers, you can’t achieve anything. Marius and Sandra were pioneers. Activist, charming, fighters. Many people say they owe their lives to them. And I completely understand that. At the same time, it is important that we each take steps separately within our context. The voice-hearer networks are incredibly important. Necessary for everyone. What a story, what a journey, with Marius and Sandra. Almost impossible to comprehend.
Celebration ceremony of life details below, reposted from Marilien Romme’s Linkedin Page
Long Live Marius!