Is Mental Health a Human Right? World Mental Health Day 2023

World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on October 10 and each year the chosen theme aims to highlight or address an aspect of mental health. This year the theme is ‘Mental health is a human right’. So what is a human right? And why is mental health one of them? MQ answers some questions you may be asking…

What is a human right?

Human rights, as defined by law, are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to each of us around the world, from the moment we are born to the moment we die. No matter where you live, where you were born, what belief system you have or how you live your daily life, we all have the same human rights.

Our human rights are based on shared values ​​of dignity, justice, equality, respect and independence. These securities are legally protected in the United Kingdom by the Human Rights Act 1998.

There are certain ‘articles’ or points that are outlined in the Human Rights Law. These include:

• Right to life
• Freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
• Freedom from slavery and forced labor
• Right to liberty and security
• Right to a fair trial
• There is no punishment without law
• Respect for private and family life, home and correspondence.
• Freedom of thought, belief and religion.
• Freedom of expression
• Freedom of assembly and association
• Right to marry and start a family.
• Protection against discrimination

Then come the protocols, related to these previous points. These include: the right to peaceful enjoyment of one’s property, the right to education, to participate in free elections, the abolition of the death penalty.

Who are human rights for?

Human rights are not only for those who are repressed, mistreated or experiencing difficulties. Human rights exist for all of us.

Human rights have existed for a long time. In fact, they have been developing in the UK for hundreds of years. In 1215, the Magna Carta was one of the first moments in the development of human rights, in 1689 the Bill of Rights took a huge step forward to help better define human rights and now we live with the Human Rights Act of 1998.

They are all protected by human rights. Thanks to this, we all have the right to have our own opinions, to express our own opinions, to have an education, to privacy, to a family life or one of our choice, to be treated fairly and not to be punished by governments without reason. fair

Global threats and restrictions on human rights

Human rights exist to be respected by law. In theory, this should mean that human rights cannot be taken away, although it is important to note that around the world some human rights are under threat.

Human rights exist to be respected by law. In theory, this should mean that human rights cannot be taken away, although it is important to note that around the world some human rights are under threat.

Certain countries such as Libya, North Korea and Sudan have been put into doubt for violating human rights. Additionally, certain groups in certain countries face increasing threats to their human rights, such as Women’s rights in Afghanistan.. In 2020 there were six states of the United Nations where the death penalty was legal for consensual same-sex sexual acts.

In the UK, however, our human rights are backed by law and cannot be taken away, although they can sometimes be restricted, for example if a person:

• acts illegally
• are considered a danger to your own health or safety or to the health and safety of others.

If someone is considered a danger to themselves or others, they may be detained, interned, or sectioned under mental health law.

Why is mental health a human right?

We all have the human rights mentioned above. However, being human invariably involves struggles with the very experience of being human. This relates to mental health. Mental illnesses affect our thoughts, feelings and behavior. Therefore they are related to our human rights and our human rights affect our mental health.

Mental health is health. Our human rights exist to protect us, our lives and therefore our health, both physical and mental, and our safety and security.

Mental health is a human right because, without a healthy mind, why have a healthy body?

Essentially, human rights are boundaries established to protect our values ​​and principles agreed upon as inherent in all of us from birth to death. Mental health is healthier when you set healthy boundaries. Boundaries are the foundation of a healthier mind and body.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “health” is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not simply the absence of disease.

This holistic idea of ​​health is new to many. More than 70 years ago, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stated “health” as “the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being.” However, this holistic approach is not new to MQ, which has advocated and called for a holistic approach to mental health since our founding a decade ago.

Why focus on mental health and human rights now?

in 2018 report on the right to mental healthThe UN expert on the right to health said that although evidence shows that health cannot exist without mental health, there is no country in the world where mental health is equal to physical health in any area, including budgeting, education or medical practice.

The World Health Organization estimated in 2014 that globally only 7% of health budgets were allocated to support mental health, and in low-income countries, less than $2 per person is spent on health. mentally every year.

So when 1 in 4 of us will experience mental illness in our lifetime, why is so little attention paid to improving mental health? The answer may be what the theme of World Mental Health Day addresses: persistent stigma and discrimination. This constitutes a violation of one of our human rights, “protection against discrimination.”

Human health and human rights

Mental health and human rights are inextricably linked in many ways. For example, regarding a question that a 2019 research article posed directly: Do involuntary psychiatric interventions violate international human rights law?

The paper highlighted that combining different fields of mental health, as MQ has done and continues to do, is vital. MQ organizes mental health science meetings to help connect different fields of science, for example our 2022 science festival.

The 2019 document noted that we have an opportunity to innovate in the way we approach mental health, to liberate not only users of mental health services but the entire field of mental health from a long history of stigma and discrimination, which goes back to article 15 of the human rights laws, right to protection against discrimination.

In recent years there has been a movement towards viewing disability in a social model (or human rights approach) and not in a medical model. This means viewing disability as a social problem, not exclusively as a matter of medical science. This relates to mental health because “disability” can include mental health conditions that have a long-term adverse effect on a person’s life.

To put it another way, someone with a disability or mental illness has a condition. A social model of disability would say that his condition is just that: her condition. Your condition is not your disability. Their disability is how society treats them. This could be related to stigma, discrimination, lack of treatment or medical knowledge about their condition, access to treatment and fair and reasonable adjustments to help them live a full and productive life.

It has been argued that this adjustment has advantages, including shedding light on the numerous social, political and economic factors that create disparities for people with mental health problems or psychosocial disabilities.

What is MQ doing for mental health as a human right?

MQ sheds light on these inequalities and fights for the human rights of people with mental illnesses. We do it by:

Mental health is a human right. MQ facilitates mental health research to fight, protect and strengthen our human right to good mental health.

Help us fight for our shared right to mental health now.