MIAW - Dignity in Mental Health

What is dignity? Well, according to the dictionary, it means "the state or quality of being worthy of honour or respect" which pretty much sums it really well, but, what is Dignity in Mental Health? Why is this the theme of World Mental Health Day 2015? It just means to be treated with respect despite your mental health issues. Dignity is a good thing and most people appreciate that being valued and respected is a key part of human relationships and important for our wellbeing. Your mental health doesn't define who you are as a person, and most certainly, not define how you should be treated. Why are we celebrating this day though? The problem is...

"One in four adults and one in ten children are likely to have a mental health problem in any given year. This can have a profound impact on the lives of tens of millions of people all over, and can affect their ability to sustain relationships, work, or just get through the day." [Source]

If you look back a bit further in time, dignity and rights did not feature heavily in the mental health system. The model of support and treatment relied on incarceration, sometimes for decades at a time and helped feed some of the myths around mental health. Its worth remembering that not everyone accepted this state of affairs and that campaigners and reformers have played an important part in raising the issues of dignity and humane treatment, over many decades.

Personally, I feel that in many ways dignity in mental health is linked to wider social issues such as housing, employment or occupation and poverty. Choice and control are issues that extend beyond mental health and in the end its about what sort of society we all want to live in. I think that having a voice and being able to contribute are part of what it means to live a dignified life for most of us; I dont think its any different for people with a mental health issue. Dignity is about having worth and is about everybody having inherent rights. Its an important measure of how civilized we are as a society and it is to the credit of mental health services that the idea is not only recognised but acted upon, even in the face of an extremely challenging financial and political environment. The passion and commitment shown by all those involved with mental health means that we will continue to make dignity, choice, control, respect and fairness central to what we do.

Mental illness is a big enough challenge, let's treat people in a way that minimises it, not worsen it. Everybody, without exception, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.