‘Boots’ theory: why mental health initiatives need to address economic inequalities

Abstract

Mental health promotion initiatives can be costly – but so too are the consequences of poor mental health. For this editorial I want to unpack the ‘boots’ theory of socioeconomic unfairness, and explore its implications for mental health funding. Boots theory has been around for some time, but I only came across it recently. For those who are equally unaware, boots theory explains how the wealthy can afford to live cheaply while the poor cannot. The theory is called ‘boots’, because of how Terry Pratchett, in his 1993 book Men at Arms, initially described it: