Human Rights-Based Approaches to Mental Health

The enjoyment of human rights can reduce stress, anxiety, discrimination, and depression, and form the basis for the underlying determinants of mental health. The Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health issued a special report elaborating on human rights and mental health issues. The human right to mental health carries certain controversies surrounding involuntary commitment and coercive treatment. The 2002 Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) addressed the mental health of older adults under the priority area of advancing health and well-being. Human rights-based approaches to social work practice in mental health attend to everyone's right to mental health and to the human rights of people with mental disabilities. The chapter also presents some case studies of rights-based approaches to mental health such as Mental Health Users Network of Zambia (MHUNZ) and MindFreedom International.