The right to mental health 2017, para. 16

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Paragraph text: An effective tool used to elevate global mental health is the use of alarming statistics to indicate the scale and economic burden of “mental disorders”. While it is uncontroversial to note that millions of people around the world are grossly underserved, the current “burden of disease” approach firmly roots the global mental health crisis within a biomedical model, too narrow to be proactive and responsive in addressing mental health issues at the national and global level. The focus on treating individual conditions inevitably leads to policy arrangements, systems and services that create narrow, ineffective and potentially harmful outcomes. It paves the way for further medicalization of global mental health, distracting policymakers from addressing the main risk and protective factors affecting mental health for everyone. To address the grossly unmet need for rights-based mental health services for all, an assessment of the “global burden of obstacles” that has maintained the status quo in mental health is required.

Body: Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

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