Mental Health Disabilities and Human Rights Protections

Szmukler G, Bach M. (2015). Mental health disabilities and human rights protections. Global Mental Health (Camb). Oct 1;2:e20. doi: 10.1017/gmh.2015.18. PMID: 28596867; PMCID: PMC5269623.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5269623/

Around the world, reports regularly expose persistent and systemic human rights violations of patients in mental health services and facilities, and of those who are unable to access needed supports. A number of factors contribute – political will; the range and quality of services available; public and professional attitudes to mental health; stigma; health professionals’ training and expertise; and available resources.

This paper examines one of the main determinants, the legal framework. This sets the parameters for mental health policies and services and for applicable human rights norms and standards that can be realized in practice.