Updates.
Comic essay about intersectionality: Diving In: An Introduction to Applying Intersectionality to Mental Health Research and Policy
Comic essay about intersectionality: Diving In: An Introduction to Applying Intersectionality to Mental Health Research and Policy
by Sophia Goshulak in collaboration with Marina Morrow and Abraham Cohen
New Publication: Critical Realist Review and Environmental Scan
Exploring Human Rights and Equity in Community-based Mental Health Services
A Critical Realist Review and Environmental Scan
By Evan Wicklund, Marina Morrow & Susan Hardie
Presentation at 16th UN Conference of States Parties (CoSP) June, 2023
The recording of our recent Virtual Side Event, titled "Realizing Human Rights and Social Justice in Mental Health: An international collaboration," is now available for viewing. The event was organized by the Canadian Center on Disability Studies Incorporated, operating as Eviance, as part of the 16th UN Conference of States Parties (COSP). The Realizing Human Rights and Social Justice project was invited to present preliminary results of the research as part of this event, alongside of presentations by international collaborators, TCI Global and Redesfera Latin America.
Gain valuable insights from engaging discussions on psychosocial disabilities, human rights, and the harmonization of national policies with international conventions. Join the global dialogue and contribute to advancing mental health rights and social justice.
Toronto Community Event
On June 5th, the Ontario RHRSJ team held a community event field research participants at the Gerstein Center.
Click here to view a summary of the event.
Image of graphic recording of the Toronto community event.
Upcoming Eviance Event
Canadian Centre on Disability Studies Incorporated, operating as Eviance, cordially invites you to a Virtual Side Event at the 16th UN Conference of State Parties (COSP) on June 14, 2023, at 11:30 AM EST.
This event, titled "Realizing Human Rights and Social Justice in Mental Health: An international collaboration," aims to highlight the lived experiences of people with psychosocial disabilities who have faced involuntary treatment. It will also discuss the challenges and achievements of harmonizing national policies related to psychosocial disabilities with the CRPD and other UN conventions.
Speakers:
Marina Morrow, Ph.D., Professor, York University
Víctor Lizama Sierra, Redesfera latinoamericana por las Culturas ocási, la Diversidad Psicosocial, la Justicia, el Buen Vivir y el Derecho al Delirio
Bhargavi Davar, Executive Director, TCI Global
Aranxa Bello Brindis, Colectivo Decidir es mi derecho
Moderator: Susan Hardie, Ph.D., Executive Director, Eviance
Objectives:
To foreground the lived experience of people with psychosocial disabilities who have experienced involuntary treatment.
To bring people together in a shared international dialogue about the human rights of people with psychosocial disabilities.
To discuss the challenges & achievements of trying to harmonize national policies related to psychosocial disabilities with the CRPD and other UN conventions.
To sign up for the event, please visit the Registration Page. You can find more details in the attached brochure.
Disrupting Colonialism & Biomedical Reductionism in Mental Health - Webinar May 12, 2023
TCI Global Opposes Psychiatrizing SDGs
TCI strongly opposes a Resolution on “Mental health and psychosocial support for sustainable development and peace” and advocates worldwide for this proposal to be withdrawn.
There is an upcoming UN resolution titled “General Assembly resolution on mental health and psychosocial support for sustainable development and peace”. It was proposed by Mexico and propelled by the global mental health movement. Some of you may remember this debate from 10 years ago, when attempts were made to set “filling the treatment gap” and “reducing severe mental disorders” as a target within SDG 3. A little before that time, leaders of the Global Mental Health Movement had written harshly and dismissively against the CRPD and against our peoples. Among several discriminatory and humiliating opinions generated, as published in a Lancet article, it was stated that economic crises, community crises, conflicts and violence would befall nations if “the alarming rise of mental disorders” were left untreated. It reinforced the stereotypes of the “violent and dangerous lunatic” who has absolutely no insight; but yet was powerful enough to bring down stock markets, businesses, life in the community and create economic recession. At the time, we, as always, advocated extensively against the culture of coercion established by the mental health system, in the name of ‘treatment’- institutionalization, forced, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments, mental health laws and incapacity laws, disqualifying us as persons.
TCI, WNUSP, other groups of users and survivors, and persons with psychosocial disabilities, supported by the international cross disability movement, had thwarted that attempt. Please see some allied documents created in those days.
A new resolution from New York this month, resurrects this old debate and goes several miles forward in perpetuating coercion. Unfortunately the resolution, suggestively titled, “resolution on mental health and psychosocial support for sustainable development and peace”, is not put out publicly for consultations and is not available on the UN pages.
In TCI, we have been advocating to ‘redefine the entry point’ from the small and intractable ‘mental health door’ to the vibrant, inclusive larger doors of the SDGs and the CRPD. Persons living violence free lives, having access to food, employment, housing, adequate standard of living, social protection, education, etc. will experience psychosocial health and wellbeing. Removal of social, attitudinal, economic and legal barriers will result in mitigating the experience of disability and discrimination. The SDGs, along with the CRPD, if realized for all persons with disabilities, will remove discrimination, offer opportunities, and restore a life of dignity and independence in our lives. At the time we had argued that the SDGs should not be subverted or diminished by having any additions on ‘mental health conditions’; that, a ‘mental health treatment’ for hunger, poverty, gender based violence, homelessness, debt, etc. is not an acceptable solution.
In the years since, there has been a paradigm shift within stakeholders including State Parties looking at us through the human rights lens. This resolution, if passed, aims to undo all the progress made so far. It yanks us away from the headway we have made into the human rights door and forcefully tries to squeeze us through the tiny mental health door. It retrieves and reinforces old stereotypes. It denies us opportunities to engage with life in the community.
This resolution, too, begins with reference to ‘mental health conditions’ as ‘noncommunicable disease’, an allocation that our movements worldwide have been contesting since decades. There is no identifiable pathogen or pathway that so far has been isolated to give specificity to a diagnosis of any ‘mental health condition’. Decades of speculation about ‘chemical imbalance’ has been refuted as bad science leading to good profits by mental health industry. To bring such a discipline, without basis in human biology, to provide an overarching framework for implementing the SDGs is to predict a “chemical holocaust” for the future (if it is not there already in several countries). TCI, more seriously, contested the baseless custodial foundation upholding decades of coercion practiced by only one kind of medical professionals, on institutionalization, forced medications, shock treatments, confinement, restraints, lobotomies, and other inhuman, degrading, cruel and torturous treatments. TCI has pointedly argued the asymmetries between the medical sciences and psychiatry, where the latter, and only the latter, have such extraordinary legal powers to control human beings; and the basis of such powers in colonialism and the history of law (rather than the history of medicine).
The resolution, by building a discriminatory narrative around ‘mental health’ and ‘peace’, with additional text on the economic consequences of not addressing ‘mental health conditions’, perpetrates violence and discrimination on an under represented group of persons with disabilities. This resolution, however, goes further in its persecution of persons with disabilities than the earlier ones, because of the universalist position given to ‘mental health’ vis a viz the SDGs. Our graphic captures this aspect well: The resolution proposes to bring ‘mental health’ into each and every SDG, its goals and targets. Sections are elaborated, how this is to be implemented in various policies: climate change, children, women, migration, disaster response, school programs, maternal health, and various other social, economic human spheres of living and action. If applied in all aspects of human life, under the same conditions of ‘mental health care’ as now, we can be sure of a pogrom to capture and control persons identified with ‘mental health conditions’ in all potential SDG catchment areas, and to treat them against their will.
The resolution, appallingly, does not mention at all the UN Guidelines to Deinstitutionalization, guidelines on deprivation of liberty, General Comments 1, 5 and 7, the SR reports on the violence perpetrated by ‘mental health care’, SR reports on support, etc.. The document does not draw from earlier resolutions and findings, the repeated concluding observations and list of issues raised by the CRPD committee; leave alone the amplified calls and testimonies by movements worldwide to halt the violence within mental health care.
We, the largest representative voice of persons with psychosocial disabilities, oppose this resolution.
#StoppsychiatrizingSDGs
Write to secretariat@tci-global.org for more information.
Healing Circle Dialogues Event Held in BC
On March 1 2023, our team in collaboration with some of our BC partners (Métis Nation BC, Health Justice and the Centre for Evaluation and Outcome Science – CHEOS) held an event, Healing Circle Dialogues on Coercive Mental Health Practices in Vancouver, BC.
Image of graphic recording of event. Illustrations of plants and flowers border quotes from speakers and focus group participants.
The purpose of the event was to bring community members together in a dialogue about coercive practices in mental health with the aim of generating ideas for system change and to create a space where people could be supported culturally and emotionally to participate in healing circle dialogues. The event was attended by people with lived/living experience and allies/partners as a way to begin community discussions about mental health care and mental well being.
At the event the Realizing Human Rights and Social Justice in Mental Health team were able to present preliminary results from the Vancouver focus groups and our partners shared information about the important work they are doing related to involuntary detainment and treatment under the Mental Health Act and how to enhance equity and justice in mental health.
Stayed tuned for updates on future events in BC!
For more information on our partners see:
Project name: Addressing Involuntary Mental Health Treatment at Providence Health Care and Vancouver Coastal Health project
Changemaker: David Githaiga
All of our team members contribute a great deal of knowledge and expertise to realizing human rights and social justice in mental health. Our Changemaker series gives us a chance to highlight individual team members, and speak to them about their backgrounds, roles, motivations, and hopes for the project.
In this post, we speak to research assistant David Githaiga.
What got you interested in mental health, social justice, and human rights?
My interest in mental health, social justice, and human rights is inspired by my lived experience as an outspoken mental health advocate and a caregiver offering psychosocial support to people living with mental health conditions. Mental illnesses have been prevalent in Kenya over the years, but less than half of the people affected receive treatment. The onset of Covid 19 further exposed the inhumane social injustices and human rights violations that people living with mental health conditions are subjected to. Surprisingly, most of these discriminatory cases are propagated by institutions mandated to protect and uphold the rights of people seeking psychological support. In addition, many Kenyan cultures hold on to age-old societal misconceptions that further aggravate the stigma surrounding mental health. The majority of these practices are coercive and restrict individuals living with mental health conditions from making decisions affecting them.
What is your role in this project?
I am a research assistant working collaboratively with my fellow research assistants and user organizations in Kenya to develop field research plans and support our senior researchers and the project coordinator in the recruitment of focus group participants and key informant interviewees. I work closely with community partners, and other participants and will be involved in analyzing the data collected during the research.
“My interest in mental health, social justice, and human rights is inspired by my lived experience as an outspoken mental health advocate and a caregiver offering psychosocial support to people living with mental health conditions.”
What do you think is the most urgent work that needs to be done?
There is an urgent need for funding for research in mental health. All breakthroughs in eliminating stigma, discrimination, and prejudice inherited by our communities concerning people living with mental health conditions, will only be achieved through research that will spearhead mental health education, and inclusion to enable individuals living with mental health conditions to be involved in the process of making policies affecting them.
How do you see this project contributing to your work and social justice aims?
This project is expanding my understanding of mental health regarding social injustices and human rights violations not just as a local issue but as a global crisis as well. Working with an interdisciplinary team of researchers across the world is increasing my awareness of service user experiences of involuntary detainment, seclusion, involuntary treatment, and restraints. This knowledge is significantly building my capacity to advocate for user organizations’ alignment with the UN's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities human rights framework and the WHO's Quality Rights Initiative.
How do you understand the impact of this project?
The impact of this project is to highlight the social injustices in mental health and enlighten the international community about the need to create safe spaces and sustainable policies to safeguard people going through psychological challenges and create easier accessibility of mental health services in a dignified and respectful manner free from discrimination.
Field Research Presentation
In November, 2022, we presented our Phase Two project updates to our knowledge user group. Phase Two continues as we conduct focus groups to uncover mental health service user experiences of coercive practices, and interview key informants with specialized subject matter expertise. These activities are taking place in Canada (Vancouver and Toronto), Kenya (Nairobi and Nakuru) and Australia (Melbourne). We are planning local events at each site to report back our preliminary results to research participants and the larger community.
Discovery Project 2023
Investigators successful in receiving ARC Discovery Grant!
Marina Morrow will co-Chair the International Advisory Panel.
Project Summary:
“This interdisciplinary project aims to produce a comprehensive understanding of the drivers underpinning variations in the use of legal orders to enforce psychiatric treatment in the community without consent. Australia’s rate of use of these controversial orders is very high and there are unexplained variations in rates of use within and between jurisdictions, with some minority groups disproportionately affected. Uncovering this knowledge will act as a form of procedural justice for those who have had their human rights limited by compulsion. This knowledge is expected to lead to innovations in law and policy, with subsequent organisational and system improvements, generating profound benefits for those affected by forced treatment”
Investigators:
Professor Lisa Brophy; Associate Professor Chris Maylea; Professor Steve Kisely; Dr Edwina Light; Professor Sharon Lawn; Professor Penelope Weller; Associate Professor Peter Newton-Howes; Ms Vrinda Edan; Adj A/Prof Christopher RyanAdministering Organization:
La Trobe UniversityTotal Project Funding:
$648,164
Project Duration:
3 years
View full report of grant winners here:
https://rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/Download/Report/1b0c8b2e-7bb0-4f2d-8f52-ad207cfbb41d/243
New Report: Health Justice publishes Guiding Principles
Health Justice, a British Columbia non-profit research and advocacy organization, has published a report entitled A Path Forward: Human rights-based guiding principles for BC’s mental health law and services.
Read the full publication and learn more about Health Justice’s work here:
Upcoming Event December 9TH!
Realizing Human Rights & Social Justice Webinar Series - Part 1
Mad Peoples Movement - Reclaiming Collective Activist Histories
View the webinar recordings on our Knowledge Exchange page!
Field researchers hired
We have recently hired six researchers to support the field research in Canada, Australia and Kenya.
We have recently hired six researchers to support the field research in Canada, Australia and Kenya. Visit our About page of click to check out their bios: David Githaiga, Vivian Kamau, Joyce Mugure (Kenya); Yoonmee Han, Lisa Schlosser, Anita David (Canada) and Paul Armitage (Australia).
Studies in Social Justice Special Issue
From our work on Phase One of the project we are working on a special issue of the journal Studies in Social Justice titled “Mental Health and Human Rights: Social Justice in the Making.”
From our work on Phase One of the project we are working on a special issue of the journal Studies in Social Justice titled “Mental Health and Human Rights: Social Justice in the Making.”
Virtual Workshops
From October 2020 to January 2021, we held four virtual workshops (two for the research team and two that included KUG participation).
From October 2020 to January 2021 we held four virtual workshops (two for the research team and two that included our Knowledge User partners). These included two research workshops: Values, Human Rights, Intersectionality and Critical Discourse Analysis in the Mental Health Policy Context and, How to Conduct a Critical Realist Review, as well as talks by Michael Njenga (USPKenya) and collaborator Macharia Njoroge, and Robert Lattanzio (Executive Director of ARCH Disability Law Centre). These sessions contributed to expanding our understandings of the WHO QualityRights Initiative and the UNCRPD and how they impact our inquiry.