Mental health is a human right
As human beings, our health and the health of those we care about is a matter of daily concern. Regardless of our age, gender, socio-economic or ethnic background, we consider our health to be our most basic and essential asset. A user of psychiatric services sits in a yard and looks in through one of the windows of a mental healthcare centre in Herat, Afghanistan, March 2017. Ill health, on the other hand, can keep us from going to school or to work, from attending to our family responsibilities or from participating fully in the activities of our community. Similarly, we are willing to make many sacrifices if only that would guarantee us and our families a longer and healthier life. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease. This holistic approach is relatively new and is indicating a shift in how “the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-be...