Question

There are three parts to the question. (500 words)

A. Is there a human right to mental health?

B. Do mental illnesses look the same around the world?

C. What are three obstacles faced by people with mental illness in accessing their right to the highest attainable standard of health?

Answer 1

All over the world people with mental disabilities experience a wide range of human rights violations.The Mental Health Declaration of Human Rights articulates the guiding principles of CCHR and the standards against which human rights violations by psychiatry are relentlessly investigated and exposed.Some are,

A. The right to full informed consent.

B. No person shall be given psychiatric or psychological treatment against his or her will.

C. Any patient has the right to be treated with dignity as a human being

D. The right to have a thorough, physical and clinical examination by a competent registered general practitioner of one’s choice

E. The right to make official complaints. etc.

Mental illness never looks same around the world because there are various cultural differences,racism etc. Cultural and religious beliefs, as well as social norms are very important factors for mental health.

The Three obstacles are,

1) Stigma : a person with mental illness often grows up in an environment where most people are uneducated about mental health.They explain mental illness as spiritual or character weakness. Due to stigma they carry the pain, shame, and suffering inside themselves, as mental illness is most often an 'invisble illness," unknown and undetectable by those around them.

2) Discrimination : most people avoid what they do not understand.Frightening over-the-top images of "violent crazy people" on television makes a wrond aewareness and discrimination about mental health.

3) Lack of care : It took until 2008 to be able to get mental health parity laws passed to ensure equal coverage for mental health conditions as are provided for medical conditions.If anyone has mental disorder, proper care should be done. Due to lack of care for various mental illness remain unnoticed.