Maybe you missed it, like I did. But this weekend I finally read the little report, about 20 pages, by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dainius Pūras.
Wow!
It is amazing! The official UN news release actually calls for a “revolution” in mental health.
The actual report is here, 21 pages that reads like we psychiatric survivors wrote it, see attachment: un-report-on-mental-health-2017
For example, he says “Mental health policies should address the ‘power imbalance’ rather than ‘chemical imbalance’.” He calls for the “elimination” of coercive mental health procedures.
Here is a way to unify through diversity. Last year I actually heard about the call for “revolution” by this UN Rapporteur through activist Rev. Phil Schulman. But it took me more than a year to finally read the report.
You can get a good summary by looking at a Mad in America blog by Justin Karter from 9 June 2017. If you need to, search online for the phrase: mad in america un revolution in mental health justin karter.
Check out this UN news release from June 2017:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21689
Today, 10 October 2018, is considered World Mental Health Day by the mental health industry, and so this is good timing to get out the word about this UN report from 2017. My friend and psychiatric survivor Mary Maddock endorses a campaign by Mad in the UK. We are to use the hashtag #WMHD2018 to get out the word about the need for activism in mental health. You can read more about the campaign here:
Please put your comments here about this report and speaking out. Meanwhile, I will tweet #WMHD2018, and I hope you do too.
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David, you must feel personally vindicated; After calling for a revolution in mental health for decades, it appears someone in a high place was actually listening. Congratulations to all activists who participated in the long process of educating the United Nations, including you, Celia Brown, and other members of the Global Campaign Committee of MindFreedom and Tina Minkowitz and The World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP)
Ya, we should all be real cozy in the ovens their heating up for the long cold winter.
CURTAILING THE COMMUNICABILITY OF PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
Although psychiatric disorders are classified as non-communicable diseases, we believe this classification is too rigid and limiting. We present evidence of the communicability of psychiatric disorders through three major pathways:
1. infectious and ecological,
2. familial, and
3. sociocultural communicability.
Successful strategies developed to control the spread of communicable infectious diseases are relevant to curtailing the communicability of psychiatric disorders, thereby reducing their burden.
Current interventions and policies that conceptualise psychiatric illnesses as non-communicable mostly focus on the individual. By applying strategies from infectious disease and chronic illness prevention models within a socioecological framework, we posit a broad communicable chronic disease psychiatric illness control plan for effectively treating the patient with the psychiatric disorder (host) as early as possible, providing benefits to their family and the community, and preventing transmission to others.
Thank you for posting this David.
We are not alone in the struggle. More and more people, even leaders, are learning the truth, seeing the light, speaking out and this may effect change.
The dam of psychiatric and pharmaceutical lies and bullshit is now leaking and will burst, before too long I hope.
I may live long enough to see the truth prevail.
I hope all of us do!
Thanks for republishing this, David. Actually I had lost the article so I appreciate your finding it again for me. I wanted to use it in the book I am writing on how to survive the drug Lithium. so you have helped me immensely.
Julie