<p>This article examines the ways in which notions of community are mobilised in mental health according to different agendas and political purposes. First, it analyses how the framework of primitivism is advanced in notions of community deployed in global mental health controversies. Following Lucas and Barret, primitivist tropes opposing barbaric and arcadian views of community underlie debates around the role of family and community in the provision of mental healthcare. The second part explores primitivist tropes around psychiatric reform and community mental healthcare in Brazil. On the one hand, barbaric perspectives are mobilised to criticise the Brazilian psychiatric reform and the organisation of mental health care in the community; on the other hand, arcadian visions that idealise the role of the family and the community in mental health care often underate the barriers to the implementation of effective and quality mental healthcare. This is particularly acute in a country where health care is chronically underfunded, and families and communities face many difficulties to access quality health and social care. Mental health polarisation diverts scarce resources, hinders intersectoral and professionals’ collaboration and obstructs the development of robust mental health models and their implementation in local contexts, especially amongst vulnerable populations.</p>