Mental health articles

Human rights and mental illness
In the past, people with mental illnesses were locked up, chained to walls and treated as if they did not deserve any dignity or compassion. Even though these terrible scenes are rarely seen today, the human rights of mentally ill people continue to be abused in many parts of the world. Many people with a mental illness continue to be denied their freedom and appropriate health care. Many continue to be locked up, either in prisons or in mental hospitals, where they may be treated in a cruel manner. In particular, they are often denied access to medical care, which is what is most needed during the acute
phases of their illness. Many spend years in mental hospitals because their relatives have abandoned them. Some mental hospitals are poorly staffed and are instead run almost as prisons, where the aim is not to treat and rehabilitate the sick but to keep them locked away from society. Cruel practices, such as beating, tying up the person or giving shock therapy without anaesthesia, continue to be practised. The human rights of mentally ill people can also be violated in their own homes.
Identifying human right violations is an important task for health workers. Your aim must be to educate families and those working in mental hospitals. If efforts to change their
behaviour through education fail, you may need to take stronger action by informing nongovernmental organisations, the police or lawyers about human rights abuses.

Tags: Illness, mental, mental illness