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What are Human Rights? The basic rights and freedoms, to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law. {American heritage, 2000}. The British Institute of Human Rights describe the relevance of human rights: The Human Rights Act is vital to protecting the fundamental freedoms of everyone in society.
The Act is particularly important for people with experience of mental distress, who are too often denied their human rights, such as the right not be discriminated against (article 14), the right to a private and family life (article 8), or, in extreme cases, the right to liberty (article 5), {Mind, 2013}. People with mental health problems are usually denied these rights. They do not have a say in their treatment, it is believed that the professionals have to make decisions for them, in the name of ‘best interest’.
Human Rights and Mental Health Mental health refers to our cognitive or emotional wellbeing – it is all about how we think, feel, and behave. Mental health, if somebody has it, can also mean an absence Of a mental disorder. Approximately 25% Of people in the UK have a mental health problem during their lives. {Medical, 2013}. Mental disorder is defined as ‘any disorder or disability of mind’.
This definition includes conditions such as schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, personality disorders, autistic-spectrum disorders, organic disorders such as dementia, behavioral changes due to brain injury, and mental disorders due to drug use. The definition includes learning disability only where it is associated with abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible behavior. {Ibid}. There are many issues surrounding people with mental health problems, which are still a major cause of concern.
The Use of restraint and treatment of the mentally People with mental disorders are exposed to a wide range of human rights violations. This often occurs in psychiatric institutions through inadequate, degrading and harmful care and treatment as well as unhygienic and inhuman living condition {WHO, 2006}. You have the absolute right not to be tortured or subjected to treatment or punishment, which is inhuman or degrading. In some instances, the use of restraint-physical or otherwise may also amount to inhuman or degrading treatment.
Examples include tying you to a chair to prevention from moving, or continually giving you education to keep you sedated because there is a lack of staff {BIRR, P. 14}. Case Example: Should people with mental problem not have the right to object to the treatment they get? Detention f you are detained under the Mental Health Act this means you are admitted to hospital against your will. Detention under the Mental Health Act is commonly known as ‘being sectioned’. {Ibid}. Which means those with mental disorders lack the capacity to make decisions, so every of such decisions are made on their behalf.
So where are the rights of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect? Stimulation and aftercare Stigma and prejudice contribute to the fundamental abuse of human rights that sadly continue to be seen in some of the outdated large psychiatric institutions and social care homes that remain the mainstay of mental health systems in some Member States. This abuse manifests itself in many ways; even where community based care dominates, as in much of Western Europe, individuals can be just as neglected and isolated within their communities as they were previously in institutions.
Stigma can affect all aspects of life, limiting access to employment and housing, harming, social relationships, and reducing self-esteem. Fear of being labeled as having a mental health problem also reduces the likelihood of individuals with mental health disorders seeking treatment {David, n. D}. Section 11 7 of the Mental Health Act 1 983 (AMAH) places a joint legal duty on the INS and social services to provide free aftercare services to people who have been detained under sections 3, 37, AAA, 47 or 48 of the Act.
There is no definition of aftercare in the legislation, but services could include crisis- planning, accommodation, help with managing money and services to meet other needs, such as psychological needs. The section 117 duty lasts as long s someone needs aftercare services for their mental health condition. It can only end when both the health and social services authorities have assessed that someone is no longer in need of aftercare services {Rethink, n. What are Ethics? And its application to Human Rights and Mental illness Ethics is the branch Of study dealing with what is the proper course Of action for man.
It answers the question, “What do I do? ” It is the study of right and wrong in human endeavourers. At a more fundamental level, it is the method by which we categorize our values and pursue them. Do we pursue our own peppiness, or do we sacrifice ourselves to a greater cause? Is that foundation of ethics based on the Bible, or on the very nature of man himself, or neither? {Jeff, et al. 2001 y. How does this then apply to human rights and mental illness? Situation ethics (contextually) – The right thing to do depends on the situation. In situation ethics, right and wrong depend upon the situation.
There are no universal moral rules or rights – each case is unique and deserves a unique solution. Situation ethics rejects ‘prefabricated decisions and prescriptive rules’. It teaches that ethical decisions should follow flexible deadlines rather than absolute rules, and be taken on a case-by-case basis {BBC, 2013}. In situation ethics, the right thing to do to a mentally ill patient is to approach the situation as it is. Either by using force or other means to achieve the end result. Kantian ethics – duty rather than emotions or end goals.
Kant believed that there was a supreme principle of morality and he referred to it as The Categorical Imperative’ {Kantian ethics, n. D}. This determines what our moral duties are. What then is our moral duty in assisting the mentally ill without infringing on their rights? Utilitarianism ethics- the iratest happiness for the greatest number of people. Jeremy Beneath and John Stuart Mill believed that an action is right if it tends to promote happiness and wrong if it tends to produce the reverse of happiness-??not just the happiness of the performer of the action but also that of everyone affected by it.
So how do the mentally ill decide when decisions are made on their behalf for the greater good? In response to a student’s question regarding choosing a psychiatric specialty, a charge nurse states, “mentally ill clients need special care. If were in that position, would want a caring nurse also. ” From which ethical framework is the charge nurse operating? The charge nurse is operating from a Christian ethics framework. The imperative demand of Christian ethics is to treat others as moral equals by permitting them to act as we do when they occupy a position similar to ours.