Mental illnesses: Victims Rights Versus the Safety of the Whole Community

By: Percy Konadu Yiadom BSW, MSW

The covert arguments and the controversies surrounding whether people with mental or psychiatric disorders should have equal rights as every member of the community still continues unabated. It is believed that these arguments will never end until people understand what really a mental illness is. There have always been two schools of thought on the issues of the rights of the victims of mental illnesses and the safety of the entire communities where they reside. Whilst one school of thought contends that mental illnesses like other physical illnesses can affect everyone regardless of sex, age, race, religion, culture and ethnicity and therefore victims of mental illnesses should never be deprived of any of their rights because of their illnesses, the other school of thought also claim that victims of mental illnesses have psychiatric disorders and are therefore incapable of functioning normally like the other members of their communities and therefore should be deprived of other safety related rights like the right to operate a motor vehicle and the right to own fire-arms. The proponents of this view buttress their stance with the concern for the safety of the general public and the safety risks associated with the neurological impairment of the mentally ill. They claim that since all human activities are controlled and monitored by our minds/brains, any brain related impairment should be carefully monitored by the society for sake of the safety of its members. While they respect and recognise the rights of every human being, they are also cautious of the activities and behaviours of other people that might temper with or has the potential of harming the safety of other members of the general public.
While these arguments rages on in the minds of people, it is worth having an in-depth knowledge about mental illnesses, because mental illness is believed to be socially feared and misunderstood by many people but it is hoped that these fears will eventually disappear if people learn and understand what mental illnesses are
According to the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) mental illnesses like physical illnesses can take many forms and are very common. Statistics show that one in every 5 Canadians will have mental health problem at some point in their lives. Mental illnesses otherwise know as psychiatric disorders are believed to carry stigmas in most societies, and because of these stigmas most people are hesitant to get help for their mental health problems for fear of being belittled or looked down upon. Victims of mental illnesses have often been referred to in derogatory terms such as ‘psycho, kuku, Waco, crazy’ to mention but a few. Surprisingly, our media houses instead of helping to eradicate these stigmas have also contributed towards worsening the situation. Most media houses refer to anything strange and awkward as ‘crazy’ and these negative descriptions does not only increase the stigmas surrounding mental illnesses but create myths about mental illnesses as well.
Mental illness is not a single disease but a broad classification for many disorders such as ‘anxiety, depressions, schizophrenia, bi-polar and many others. According to CMHA most people with mental illnesses do not get help until it gets worse or out of their controls because of the fear and stigma of being trivialized or belittled in the society, or because of their perception of being able to control the disorders themselves. CMHA maintains that mental illnesses like any physical illnesses can be treated with the appropriate and timely diagnoses.
Whilst mental health relates to one’s ability to strike a balance in all aspects of one’s life including social, physical, spiritual, economic and mental, mental illnesses like any physical illnesses is beyond the control of its victims. However, one’s willingness and eagerness for help can contribute immensely towards the treatments of all illnesses or disorders.
Based on these ongoing arguments and education about mental illnesses, one is compelled to take stance in choosing either on behalf of all the unfortunate victims of mental illnesses and the guarantee of all their rights in the society without any attempts or initiatives whatsoever to deprive them of any right by virtue of their mental or psychiatric disorders or the stance of depriving mentally ill people of some basic rights for fear of being threats to the safety of the general public. Nevertheless, not all mentally ill people will fall victims of this stance, but only those who have been diagnosed, medicated and observed to be deteriorating even with treatment and constantly pose threats to their own safety and that of the entire community.
In conclusion, whilst these arguments and stance sound very unwelcome, controversial and hostile, I personally believe that mental illnesses are not different from any illnesses. Both mental/psychiatric illnesses and physical illnesses are all human disorders and therefore every victim should be treated with equal respect and dignity. Mental illnesses like physical illnesses can affect anyone at any stage of their lives. Most mentally ill people are diagnosed or detected early in their lives due to symptoms, signs or strange behaviours observed by the people around them. Some forms of mental illnesses are never detected until the unset of old age such as ‘dementia and Alzheimer. Irrespective of when or how the unset of mental illnesses began, victims of mental illnesses like other physical illnesses are just innocent and unfortunate victims of nature’s unfairness, hardships and disasters and should therefore never suffer anymore injustices and traumas. Having said this, based on the realization of the need for the safety of the community and its members, the onus lies on the government to encourage more public education and awareness of mental illnesses so that the masses will understand what mental illnesses are, their prevalence in the society and their similarities to all physical illnesses. It is believed that these public educations will not only eradicate the fears attached to mental illnesses but will eventually alienate and permanently erode the long time stigmas and myths attached to mental illnesses. It is about time that we all face the reality that it is not only mentally ill people who pose threats to our communities but all those people suffering from terminal and incurable physical illnesses can one day get disappointed with nature and exhibit their angers and displeasures by doing things out of the ordinary thereby endangering themselves, other people and whole community at large.