The Right to Treatment

How does one go about protecting one of the human rights that is most important to an individual with a severe mental illness and a lack of insight into the need to receive treatment?

The question is a global one, and was addressed recently in an article from the Irish Medical News, "Right to treatment should not be forgotten in psychiatry". As mentioned in this article, Dr. Brendan Kelly of the Department of Adult Psychiatry, UCD stated that "the Act [Ireland's Mental Health Act, 2001] does increase protection for the right to liberty – but indicated that other important rights relating to mental health, may not be equally protected." He stated “The Act certainly increases protection for the right to liberty, but it focuses on that right so much that there is scant attention paid to other rights – the right to treatment, for example."

I agree with Pete Earley's statement on this blog site under Commonsense Quotes: "If I had a chronic mental illness and there were medicines that could help me recover, I would want my loved ones and doctors to make certain that I got them, not to stand by and watch me suffer."

I think that we should take the same compassionate stand to help those whose lives are affected by the devastating consequences of untreated mental illness. They should have a right to receive timely treatment and we should do all that we can to advocate to help protect that vitally important right.