Mental Health

Abstract

Abstract This chapter, “Mental Health,” analyzes the evolution of global health law in shifting mental health policy from institutionalization to community inclusion. Recognizing the historical segregation, institutionalization, and abuse of people with mental disabilities, global policy developed under the United Nations (UN) to realize human rights in institutional settings. The adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was a groundbreaking development in international law and disability rights, bringing about a paradigm shift that moved mental health policy from a medical model to a social or “human rights” model of disability. Instead of seeing individuals as “ill” or “damaged,” the CRPD recognizes disability as “an evolving concept” that results from the interaction between persons with impairments and social barriers that hinder their full and equal participation in society. The CRPD thus creates a government obligation to remove attitudinal and environmental barriers to inclusion, guaranteeing the right of all persons to live in the community. To implement these rights, the CRPD creates an affirmative obligation on governments to ensure access to a full range of community support services to support independent living and inclusion in the community – mainstreaming human rights in mental health policy.