Dignity in mental health

Tomorrow, 10th of October is World Mental Day 2015 and truth is that one in four adults in Nigeria will experience mental health difficulties in his life time. Over 450 million people globally experience mental disorder each year. (W.H.O). Despite the commonly repeated mantra of ‘No health without mental health,’ people with mental health difficulties continue to face challenges in obtaining the help that they require.

Stigma and discrimination are significant barriers to obtaining good mental health care and to accessing the everyday social activities that keep each of us mentally well. Stigma interferes with people’s full participation in society and deprives them of their dignity.

People with mental health difficulties, their families, carers, governments, NGO’s (non-governmental organisations), professionals of all kinds and the associations that represent them would like all encounters to result in a positive dignity experience. To make dignity in mental health a reality requires every member of society to work together and make mental health visible, not something to be ashamed of.

The voice of people with mental health difficulties needs to be heard. There is no health without mental health but there is no single, universally recognised symbol to represent mental health. Every human interaction holds the potential to be a dignity encounter, an interaction in which dignity comes to fore and may be positive or negative.

The inspiration for a global mental health symbol that represents dignity in mental health has been developed using stories from all over the world provided by people who have experienced mental health difficulties, their relatives and carers. Every human interaction represents an opportunity for one person to treat another with dignity.

Individuals and families affected by mental illness can often describe what dignity should look like. Sadly, however, most experience something wholly different. The stigmas of mental illness can no longer be tolerated. We can no longer be bystanders. We must do something.

Threats to dignity in mental health care

Research evidence identifies three areas as threats to dignity in mental health care:

1) Stigma and discrimination

2) Acute inpatient care

3) Human rights violations

Stigma and discrimination have the potential to violate dignity through their effects on individuals as well as on society as a whole. According to the Social Exclusion Unit (2004), adults with mental health problems are one of the most socially excluded groups in society.

Stigma and discrimination take place on several different levels in society: social, political, economic and individual. In considering dignity, we are often concerned primarily with their effect at the individual level, but we should not forget the structural levels at which they operate. For example, people with a psychiatric history are barred from sitting on a jury, frequently encounter barriers to employment and differential treatment by the financial and insurance industry. All of these impact on dignity.

People who perceive themselves to be members of a stigmatised group, whether it is obvious to those around them or not, often experience psychological distress and may view themselves with contempt.

For Nigerians living in Nigeria, the issue of lack of passage of a Mental Health Act is a major threat.

What We Are Doing

World Mental Health Day is observed on 10th October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.

The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day is “Dignity in Mental Health”. This year, Speakout Initiative, our non-governmental project at Pinnacle Medical Services aims to raise awareness of what can be done to ensure that people with mental health conditions can continue to live with dignity.

Human rights orientated policy and law, training of health professionals, respect for informed consent to treatment, inclusion in decision making processes, and public information campaigns – are key action items identified by WHO to advance dignity in mental health.

Stigma, discrimination, and marginalization – these are issues that impact millions of people with mental health conditions around the world. To address these challenges, this awareness is a continuous project and it aims to create the much needed public enlightenment on bringing dignity to mental health in Nigeria and for Nigerians.

Issues of persons with mental health conditions experiencing discrimination and stigma have been documented in Nigeria, as in many countries around the world.

Challenges such as persons correlating criminality with mental health, cultural choices with the use of stigmatizing language and gaps in policy and laws to protect this vulnerable sector in society have to be addressed.

The aim of the public enlightenment is to take yet another step in eradicating the stigma of mental illness, by creating an environment for individuals to feel comfortable in talking about their personal experiences and to encourage persons to not define someone by their mental illness and recognize that many amazing and valuable contributions to our society have come from persons with disabilities.

We all play a role in ensuring that persons in our community experiencing mental health challenges are treated with dignity and respect. Therefore, Speakout Initiative, the CSR of Pinnacle Medical Services has scheduled several radio and television appearances to promote discussion around the topic and several Twitter conferences over the next four weeks.

Dignity in mental health, promoting mental health dignity in primary care, living with mental illness, mental health in school and mental health for all are just some of the topics that will be addressed during this media outreach.

Conclusion

Effectively supporting people experiencing mental health problems is on target to become one of the greatest public health challenges of our time. Stigmatising and discriminatory treatment can be particularly distressing when a person is experiencing a health crisis.

We all have mental health and by failing to treat people with mental health problems with dignity, we make it more difficult to ensure that everyone takes steps to safeguard their wellbeing and to seek help. This can lead to self-stigma, low confidence, low self-esteem, withdrawal and social isolation and sometimes suicide.

Maymunah  Kadiri