Human Rights Violations and Mental Illness

Abstract

The literature review identifies and examines human rights violations experienced by individuals with mental illness on a global level. In addition, the intent is to explore how current legislation either reinforces or supports these violations. The authors conducted an extensive review of the existing literature on mental health and human rights violations. Keywords were used to exhaust databases on this subject matter and to collect data, interpretations, and government publications on mental health and human rights. Individuals with mental illness are experiencing human rights violations on a global scale both within and outside of psychiatric institutions. These violations include denial of employment, marriage, procreation, and education; malnutrition; physical abuse; and negligence. This information was reviewed and compiled into the following article, along with interpretations of current implications and suggestions for future research. It is evident that more supports need to be instilled, especially within the context of low-and middle-income countries lacking adequate staffing and accessible services. Furthermore, legislation needs to be modified, updated, or created with relevant systems in place to make these laws enforceable.

Social Exclusion of People Who Suffer from Mental Disorders: A Proposal for an Explanatory Model

“…Although in the context of the psychiatric reform there are institutional mechanisms that provide for the social inclusion of people suffering from mental disorders, it is also necessary to transform the relationship of Western society with these individuals, which has been crystallized in years of social exclusion and institutionalization that sustain negative attitudes and the perception that these individuals pose a threat to society (Foucault, 1960(Foucault, /2012. Such representations are the basis for socially excluding and restricting the rights of individuals portrayed as "crazy," fostering discriminatory attitudes and opposition to inclusive policies, as exemplified by the resistance to the implementation of a broad-based psychiatric reform (Mfoafo-M'Carthy & Huls, 2014).…”

Scale of Stereotypes about the Mentally Ill: Construction and Preliminary Psychometric Evidence

“…The fi nal SSMI version was composed of 10 items, and participants were requested to indicate -on a 7-point semantic diff erential scale -which word better described their perception about the mentally ill. It is known the Psychiatric Reform adopts a nomenclature that refl ects the positions adopted and the ideas defended by the movement; however, in this study, it was decided to use the term "mentally ill" to name the instrument, because this nomenclature is still commonly used by the population to refer to people who exhibit some level of psychic suff ering, in both the national and international context (Maciel et al, 2015;Mfoafo-M'Carthy, & Huls, 2014;Pescosolido, Medina, Martin, & Long, 2013).…”

Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings: a public mental health perspective

“…This division between MHPSS furthermore neglects obvious overlaps in areas of concern, for example the importance of social support or connectedness as a known protective factor for development of depression or posttraumatic stress symptoms (an important ‘psychosocial’ consideration for ‘mental health’ actors) (Hobfoll et al . 2007) or the increased risk for human rights violations against people living with mental illness (an important ‘mental health’ consideration for ‘psychosocial’ actors) (Mfoafo-M'Carthy & Huls, 2014). A potential result of this split may be that agencies in the health sector implement activities such as provision of therapeutic services for mental disorders, even while agencies in other sectors independently conduct parallel activities such as community-based programmes to reduce violence against women, without efforts between agencies to work together.…”