Mental health as a human right

Persons with mental disabilities deserve equal treatment with regard to human rights. Far too often, they have been subjected to discrimination, stigmatization, and other indignities, including involuntary confinement without fair process, inability to access needed care and treatment, and the erection of social and economic barriers that limit their opportunities. The impact of these persistent human rights violations exacerbates the burden of mental disabilities throughout the population and may preclude persons with mental and intellectual disabilities from successfully seeking and obtaining mental health services.

This presentation will articulate a robust theory of a human right to mental health and illustrate the need for a broader conception of the right to mental health within human rights frameworks. Moreover, applying the human rights model to mental health allows for governance of mental health outcomes on multiple levels, global to local. The presentation will highlight the global extent of mental disabilities, as well as the inadequacy of paternalistic legislation in many countries. It will go on to analyze the myths and misconceptions about mental disabilities grounded in false assumptions about competency, dangerousness, and deinstitutionalization programs. The evolution of a human right to mental health will be discussed in the context of the development of mental health legislation and jurisprudence. The presentation will conclude with recommendations for steps governments should take to provide the conditions necessary for people to attain and maintain mental health.