A mental health consumer is a person who is under treatment for a psychiatric illness

Illness

Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...

 or disorder

Disease

A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...

. The term was coined by people who use mental health services in an attempt to empower those with mental health

Mental health

Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...

 issues, usually considered a marginalized

Marginalization

In sociology, marginalisation , or marginalization , is the social process of becoming or being made marginal or relegated to the fringe of society e.g.; "the marginalization of the underclass", "marginalisation of intellect", etc.-Individual:Marginalization at the individual level results in an...

 segment of society. The term suggests that there is a reciprocal contract between those who provide a service and those who use a service and that individuals have a choice in their treatment and that without them there could not exist mental health provider

Mental health provider

A mental health provider is a professional who provides one or more of a variety of mental health services. Such a person could be a Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Therapist, Social worker, or other professional...

s.

Today, the word mental health consumer has expanded in the popular usage of consumers themselves to include anyone who has received mental health services in the past, anyone who has a behavioral health diagnosis, or simply anyone who has experienced a mental or behavioral disorder. Other terms sometimes used by members of this community for empowerment through positive self-identification include "peers," "people with mental health disabilities," "psychiatric survivors," and "ex-patients." (See the Psychiatric survivors movement

Psychiatric survivors movement

The psychiatric survivors movement is a diverse association of individuals who are either currently clients of mental health services , or who consider themselves survivors of interventions by psychiatry, or who identify themselves as ex-patients of mental health services...

for more information.)

A similar definition would be a person who receives psychological services, perhaps from a psychologist, a psychiatrist or a social worker. It is an impersonal term often used in the health sector of a large economy.
The consumer often expects to have some influence on service delivery and provides feedback
to the provider. In Australia, informal support groups of people who had recovered from episodes of mental ill health were formed during the first wave of moving patients out of psychiatriic hospitals into the community in the 1960s. In the the USA and other countries, informal movements to change servixe delivery and legislation began to be driven driven by consumers during the 1980s. These groups aimed to correct perceived problems in mental health services and to promote consultation with consumers. Consumer theory was devised to interpret the special relationship between a service provider and service user in the context of mental health. Consumer theory examines the consequences and sociological meaning of the relationship.