GENEVA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dainius Puras, called for a "sea change" in mental health care around the world on Tuesday.
After presenting his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council here on Tuesday, he said that where mental health systems existed, they were segregated from other forms of health care and based on outdated practices that violated human rights.
"We need little short of a revolution in mental health care to end decades of neglect, abuse and violence," Puras said.
He called on states to move away from traditional practices and thinking, and toward a long overdue shift to a rights-based approach.
According to the UN expert, the current mental health policies and services are in a crisis of power imbalances.
He explained that progress was being hindered by huge imbalances in the systems currently used in policymaking, service provision, medical education and research.
"There is now unequivocal evidence of the failures of a system that relies too heavily on the biomedical model of mental health services, including the front-line and excessive use of psychotropic medicines, and yet these models persist," Puras said.
"This pattern occurs in countries across the national income spectrum. It represents a failure to integrate evidence and the voices of those most affected into policy, and a failure to respect, protect and fulfill the right to health," he added.
In his report just presented to the UN human rights council, Puras warned that power and decision-making in mental health were concentrated in the hands of "biomedical gatekeepers," particularly those representing biological psychiatry.
These gatekeepers, he said, maintain this power by adhering to two outdated concepts: that people experiencing mental distress and diagnosed with "mental disorders" are dangerous, and that biomedical interventions are medically necessary in many cases.
"These concepts perpetuate stigma and discrimination, as well as the practices of coercion that remain widely accepted in mental health systems today," he stressed, adding that it was crucial now to assess the root causes of failure and to chart a way forward, reaching consensus on the best way to do this.
"Paternalistic and excessively medicalized concepts must give way to participatory, psychosocial care and support in the community," he noted.
