Bringing Human Rights to Mental Health Care: An Interview with @UNHumanRights Envvoy Dainius Pūras

#UnitedNations Special Rapporteur Dainius Pūras discusses his own journey as a #psychiatrist and the future of #rightsbased approaches to #mentalhealth . https://www.madinamerica.com/2020/05/bringing-human-rights-mental-health-care-interview-dainius-puras/

The families and children I met were actually my real teachers. They were teaching me about ethical #psychiatry. They were teaching me that if you take #humanrights out of psychiatry, then it becomes dangerous and toxic.

It’s not black and white. It’s not about denouncing the medical model, but we’ve identified huge asymmetries and power imbalances in the field. #Mentalhealth care has gone wrong for several reasons but drugs were announced as if they were more effective than other interventions.

I made the message very clear that the global burden of obstacles is doing harm. These obstacles include the overuse of the biomedical model, power asymmetries, especially between psychiatrists and users of services, and the biased use of knowledge and evidence.

When I go to countries and I ask, “How is mental health addressed here in your country”? Officials say, “It is OK because the @WHO essential psychotropic medications are available.” But mental health care is not just about making drugs available, it’s much more than that.

With this #pandemic, we should realize even more that the status quo is not effective. How long will millions of people with #psychosocial and intellectual #disabilities continue to stay in residential institutions? These institutions are becoming even more dangerous now.

The so-called common mental health issues have been extremely medicalized by the status quo biomedical model. The effects of the #socialdeterminants of health and the effects of #poverty were turned into psychiatric diagnostic categories.

During the #pandemic, when millions of people are anxious and sad and lonely, are we going again to #medicalize and #pathologize? This will be a disaster.

It’s high time to rethink #mentalhealth care. The field is not to be demonized or blamed but #psychiatry should be liberated from outdated approaches. It’s a hostage of the outdated legacy of #coercion and over-medicalization.

We need to look at what is happening in families, schools, workplaces, communities, and our society. Are we being tolerant? Are we protecting human rights principles? If yes, we can expect good #mentalhealth . Then we should apply the same standards to mental health settings.