A person with mental illness is highly vulnerable to abuse and neglect from society. Throughout history, the shreds of evidence reveal that people with mental illness underwent harsh treatments like chaining to a wall and trepanation. In the current scenario also, people with mental illness encounter lots of hurdles on their way to seek medical help. They experience a violation of their basic rights and face discrimination by society. To ensure appropriate treatment of a person with mental illness, and to protect them from abuse Indian Mental heath Act 2017 laid down rights for a person with mental illness.
The important rights for a person with mental illness are-
• Right to access healthcare services
• Right to community living
• Right to protection from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment
• Right to equality and non-discrimination
• Right to information
• Right to confidentiality
• Right to access medical records
• Right to personal contacts and communication
• Right to legal aid
• Right to make complaints about deficiencies in the provision of services.
Right to access healthcare services
Every individual has a right to access the mental health care services provided or funded by the Government.
The mental health care services of good quality, affordable cost, and sufficient amount are the right of a person with mental illness. A person with mental illness should be able to access the mental health service without any discrimination based on gender, geographical location, religion, caste, and sexual orientation, etc. Homeless, destitute, and persons living below the poverty line has the right to avail free of cost mental health services in the government-funded or government-operated establishments
Right to community living
Every person with mental illness has a right to be a part of society without any segregation. A person with mental illness has a right to live in a community and is not required to continuously stay at mental health establishment just because he has no family or is abandoned by them. It is the responsibility of the Government to establish less restrictive mental health care facilities like halfway homes and group homes for homeless and abandoned patients, who no longer require treatment from more restrictive mental health establishment.
Right to protection from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment
A person with mental illness has a right to live with dignity and be protected from cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment in any mental health establishment.
To live in a safe and hygienic environment, to refuse undertaking work at mental health establishment, to receive remuneration for work carried out at mental health establishment, to have appropriate clothes that prevent exposure of the body, to keep his privacy, and to be well protected from any form of abuse are rights of a person with mental illness.
Right to equality and non-discrimination
A person with mental illness has a right to get emergency service, ambulance service, and suitable living conditions at mental health establishment in the same manner and of the same quality as provided to a person with physical illness. A woman with a mental illness who has a child below three years of age is not required to separate from her child. Application of temporary separation in case of potential harm to the child by the mother is allowed. Although during the temporary separation mother can access her child regularly under expert supervision.
Right to information
A person with mental illness has the right to get information in a form or language that he can easily comprehend. The person with mental illness is entitled to receive information regarding his admission procedure, proposed treatment plan, side effects of the proposed treatment, the nature of his illness, etc. The psychiatrist in charge must make this information available to the nominated representative in case of a person’s mental inability to understand.
Right to confidentiality
A person with mental illness has the right to confidentiality which, inhibits the disclosure of information related to his mental illness and treatment. Patient-related information can only be shared with concerned healthcare personnel and nominated representative to provide appropriate mental healthcare. The information can be disclosed in certain situations to prevent harm to the patient, other patients, and family members and in the interest of public safety and security. Release of any photograph taken during a patient’s stay at mental health establishment to media requires the patient’s consent.
Right to access medical records
People with mental illness have the right to access their medical records. Access to medical records is not permissible only when the information can cause serious harm to the patient’s mental health and can lead to an increased risk of harm to others.
Right to personal contacts and communication
A person with mental illness has a right to refuse or receive visitors, telephone calls, and mobile calls. A person with mental illness has the right to utilize electronic modes like email to communicate with others. If the patient refuses to receive any form of communication from a particular person, then concerned authorities of the mental health establishment will restrict such communication from that person.
Right to legal aid
A person with mental illness is entitled to get free legal services to exercise the rights mentioned under this mental health act 2017. It is the responsibility of the magistrate, police, person in charge, medical officer, and other concerned authority to inform a person with mental illness that he is liable to get free legal service under the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987.
Right to make complaints about deficiencies in the provision of services.
A person with mental illness or his nominated representative has the right to complain regarding any deficiency in the provision of care, treatment, and other mental health services. The complaint can address to the medical officer/ in-charge of mental health establishment, concerned board, and state authority.
The rights under Mental Health Act 2017 ensure safe and equal treatment for all suffering from mental illness. The rights focus on every need of a person with mental illness like their need to communicate, their need to seek treatment of their choice and their need to live in a society, etc.