News Archives - Centre for Mental Health, Human Rights and Social Justice

Guest Speaker Presentation: Mental Health and Personhood: Human Rights Perspectives, Dr Alicia Yarmin – 6 September 2024

Date: Friday 6 September 2024

Time: 8AM (EDT)/1PM (GMT)

Location: Zoom https://essex-university.zoom.us/j/92831922870

RSVP: Please register here for the talk.

Where possible, we would appreciate if attendees could register for the talk, however this is not essential as the meeting link is included above.

In this talk, Alicia Ely Yamin will first give a brief overview of concepts and international norms related to health and psycho-social disability, and human rights-based approaches to health and disability justice. Based on personal experience working with Disability Rights International, she will then discuss a concrete case example of using human rights to advance mental health and critically explore impacts of that case. Finally, Alicia will highlight challenges to implementing human rights-based approaches to mental health care in our current context.

Dr Alicia Yamin is a Lecturer on Law and the Director of the Global Health and Rights Project at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics at Harvard Law School and Adjunct Senior Lecturer on Health Policy and Management at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health; as well as Visiting Professor of Law at the Universidad Torcuato di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She also serves as Senior Adviser on Human Rights and Health Policy at the global health justice organization, Partners In Health.

Known globally for her trans-disciplinary work in relation to economic and social rights, reproductive justice, the right to health, and the intersections between development paradigms and human rights, Alicia’s career has bridged academia and activism. She has lived in Latin America and East Africa for much of her professional life and worked with local advocacy organizations, including co-founding a program on health and human rights in the Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (Lima, Peru; 1999).

Alicia was appointed by the UN Secretary General as one of ten international experts to the Independent Accountability Panel for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health in the Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2021). She was the chief consultant to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and drafter of the ‘Technical guidance on the application of a human-rights based approach to the implementation of policies and programmes to reduce preventable maternal morbidity and mortality,’ the first guidance on a ‘human rights-based approach to health’ to be adopted by the UN Human Rights Council. Alicia has served on numerous other UN, WHO and other global expert committees. She currently serves on WHO Global Advisory Group on Legislating Maternal Perinatal Death Surveillance and the Lancet Commission on Arctic and Northern Health.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A session with members of the audience and proceedings will conclude by 2 pm GMT / 9 am EDT.
See link for further information about the Centre for Mental Health, Human Rights and Social Justice.

Guest Speaker Presentation: Mental Health and Personhood: Human Rights Perspectives, Dr Alicia Yarmin – 6 September 2024 Read More »

Dainius Pūras, Keynote Speaker -“From Ticking Boxes to Transformation – A New Script for Mental Health”

On 10 October 2024, Prof Dainius Pūras, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, will be giving a keynote address at the event “From Ticking Boxes to Transformation – A New Script for Mental Health”, taking place from 10am at The MAC Arts Centre, Exchange St West, Belfast. Follow the link for further details and how to register for this event.

Dainius Pūras, Keynote Speaker -“From Ticking Boxes to Transformation – A New Script for Mental Health” Read More »

“Ending Psychiatric Coercion – Urgent Need for Effective Remedies and Reparations” – Centre Members to Speak at Upcoming Conference

Prof Dainius Pūras, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, and Alberto Vasquez, Co-director for the Center for Inclusive Policy, will be speaking at an upcoming conference in Oslo (in person and online) on 10 September 2024, organised by the Human Rights Foundation ReDo*.

Please see below for further details and how to register:

Topics that will be covered at the conference include –

Human rights standards relevant for ending psychiatric coercion & reparations

Severity of human rights violations and harm done

Legal reforms to end psychiatric coercion

Access to justice, effective remedies and reparations – the important role of the courts

Strategic litigation & way forward (European Court of Human Rights & other regional human rights bodies, UN treaty bodies, regional and global perspectives)

Speakers –

Dainius Pūras, Professor, Vilnius University, former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health
Carlos Rios Espinosa, Human Rights Watch (HRW), former member of the UN CRPD Committee
Tina Minkowitz, Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (CHRUSP)
Alberto Vasquez, Co-director, Center for Inclusive Policy (CIP)
Oh-yong Kweon, Yein Law Office, World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP)
Steven Allen, Executive Director, Validity Foundation
Jennifer Wairimu, Litigation Officer, Validity Foundation

Location: Litteraturhuset, Wergelandssalen, Oslo

Time: 09:00 hrs – 16:30 hrs

The conference is open for everyone and free of charge and will be held both in person and broadcast online in passive mode.

Please register here, for both in person participation and online participation

For questions about the conference please contact Hege Orefellen at hegejo@kjemi.uio.no

*The aim of the human rights foundation ReDo is to work against infringements, abuse, and coercion in the mental health system and to strengthen the human rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Work is centred on documentation of human rights violations in the mental health system and support for strategic litigation.

ReDo organizes an annual conference where a human rights award is given. This year’s conference focuses on ending psychiatric coercion and remedies and reparations needed for these human rights violations, and is co-organized by WSO – We Shall Overcome, Norway

“Ending Psychiatric Coercion – Urgent Need for Effective Remedies and Reparations” – Centre Members to Speak at Upcoming Conference Read More »

Guest Speaker Presentation: Can the Psyche Be Injured? Labour Politics and the Co-Production of Psychological Harm in the Workplace in Chile, Dr Sofía Bowen – 26 July 2024

Chair: Cristian Montenegro.

Historically, occupational health has identified workplace injuries as physical. However, with the global rise of psychiatric language, new conceptions of psychological injury are emerging. What do these mental health injuries enact concerning historical and current labour issues? What roles do workers, occupational healthcare professionals, and ‘psy’ specialists play in the emergence of these types of injuries? Using Chile as a case study, Dr Bowen’s talk examines the increase in mental health claims submitted to employee insurance companies and analyses how various social actors, including workers, ‘psy’ specialists, insurers, and state bureaucrats, interact in shaping the concept of psychological injury within a labour environment characterized by deep-rooted hierarchical relationships, neoliberal policies, and a lack of social security. Ultimately, the talk explores how recognizing the psyche as injured generates new meanings and social dynamics that impact workers’ rights, status, and the historical and ongoing power struggles within the labour and political landscape.

Dr Sofía Bowen is a Chilean medical anthropologist with a PhD from the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at King’s College London, United Kingdom. She also holds a BSc in Social Anthropology from the University of Chile and an MSc in Medical Anthropology from the University of Edinburgh. Dr Bowen co-founded the Platform for Social Research in Mental Health in Latin America (PLASMA), an initiative fostering collaboration and reflection on the political, cultural, and social dimensions of mental health in the region. Currently, she works as an associate lecturer and research fellow at the School of Anthropology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the Center For Cancer Prevention and Control (CECAN). Her research interests focus on the intersection between mental health and psychiatry, health governance and citizenship, and socio-political processes in Chile and Latin America.

Guest Speaker Presentation: Can the Psyche Be Injured? Labour Politics and the Co-Production of Psychological Harm in the Workplace in Chile, Dr Sofía Bowen – 26 July 2024 Read More »

Guest speaker presentation: Mental illness and identity, Dr Milutin Kostic – 24 april 2024

Date: 24 April 2024

Time: 8AM (EDT)/1PM (GMT)

Chair: Lisa Cosgrove

Location: Zoom https://essex-university.zoom.us/j/96540727782

Recent decades have seen the rise of mental health speak in the general population and social media. Even though most is done with the best intentions, this cultural change poses many questions and potential dangers that have been completely marginalized. During this time awareness and anti-stigma campaigns have presented the story of mental health as the same as physical health, however there are qualitative differences that are overlooked. One aspect that must be taken into account and that influences the cultural, scientific, clinical, social and even philosophical zeitgeist is the interplay of diagnosis and identity. What happens in this diad and how it influences each and every aspect of our society, even when we are not completely aware of this, will be the topic of Dr Kostic’s talk.

Dr Kostic is a psychiatrist from Serbia, Head of the Day Hospital at the Institute of Mental Health in Belgrade. He completed his PhD in molecular medicine, with a focus on genetics and imaging in depression, but has in the meantime refocused his work on social and psychological aspects of diagnosis, overtreatment and overdiagnosis. Milutin is currently at the University of Massachusetts Boston on a Fulbright scholarship working with Prof. Cosgrove.

The talk will be followed by a Q&A session with members of the audience and proceedings will conclude by 9 am EDT/2 pm GMT.

Guest speaker presentation: Mental illness and identity, Dr Milutin Kostic – 24 april 2024 Read More »

Dainius PŪras VISITS la trobe university, australia – april 2024

On 11 April, Prof Dainius Pūras, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable physical and mental health, joined a panel discussion at the La Trobe Law School and the Care Economy Research Institute, Australia. The panel discussed the Transformation of Mental Health Policy, Practice, and Law in Victoria and beyond. Dainius was joined on the panel by Mary O’Hagan, Executive Director Lived Experience in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Division at the Department of Health, Victoria, and Professor Lisa Brophy, Social Work and Social Policy at La Trobe University. The panel was chaired by Associate Professor Piers Gooding from the La Trobe Law School, and guests were welcomed by Professor Irene Blackberry, Director of the Care Economy Research Institute.

Photo: L-R – A/Prof Piers Gooding, Prof Dainius Pūras, Prof Lisa Brophy, Prof Irene Blackberry

While in Australia, Dainius also met with contacts at Deakin University to discuss mental health and deafness and he also presented at the University of Melbourne on mental health policy.

Dainius PŪras VISITS la trobe university, australia – april 2024 Read More »

PAnel Members for New Psychiatric ‘bible’ received over $14m from industry

Study finds six in 10 US physician contributors had financial ties to industry. Findings raise questions about editorial independence

A study from the Centre’s co-Founder, Lisa Cosgrove, reported that sixty percent of US physicians serving as panel and task force members for the American Psychiatric Association’s official manual of psychiatric disorders received payments from industry totalling $14.24m, finds a study published by The BMJ.

Because of the enormous influence of diagnostic and treatment guidelines, the researchers say their findings “raise questions about the editorial independence of this diagnostic manual.”

Often referred to as the ‘bible’ of psychiatric disorders, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, text revision (DSM-5-TR) is the latest edition of the guide that doctors use to diagnose and treat patients. It is thus critical that authors of this psychiatric taxonomy should be free of industry ties.

But until the development of Open Payments (a database of financial relationships between companies and physicians), it wasn’t possible to determine the amount of monies received by authors of diagnostic and clinical practice guidelines.
To address this, researchers used data from Open Payments to assess the extent and types of financial ties to industry of panel and task force members of the DSM-5-TR.

Their analysis included 92 physicians based in the US who served as members of either a panel (86) or task force (6) on the DSM-5-TR from 2016-19, the time during which work was initiated and completed for the 2022 text revision.
Of these 92 individuals, 55 (60%) received payments from industry. Collectively, these panel members received a total of $14.24m (£11.21m; €12.96m). Only two of the six task force members had any payments reported in Open Payments, totaling $196.02 and $792.67 for 2016-19.

The most common types of payment were for food and beverages (91%), followed by travel (69%) and consulting (69%).

The greatest proportion of compensation by category of payment was for research funding (70%) which the authors point out was excluded from the American Psychiatric Association’s disclosure policy for the previous edition (DSM-5).

They highlight some study limitations, such as not including payments to physicians based outside the US or non-physician prescribers and acknowledge that amounts listed in the database may be imprecise.

Nevertheless, they say this study “provides novel data about the appreciable conflicts of interest in the DSM-5-TR and extends past research on this topic.”

To ensure unbiased, evidence based mental health practice, there should be a rebuttable presumption of prohibiting financial conflicts of interest among the panel and task force members of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, they write.

When no independent individuals with the requisite expertise are available, they suggest that those with associations to industry could consult to the panels, but they would not have decision making authority on revisions or inclusion of new disorders.

“As researchers, clinicians, policy makers, and leaders in evidence based medicine have argued, guideline writers should be free of financial relationships with industry, especially those writers who are responsible for such an influential manual on psychiatric taxonomy,” they conclude.

The full article can be found here.

PAnel Members for New Psychiatric ‘bible’ received over $14m from industry Read More »

International Housing First seminar in Brazil – November 2023

The International Housing First Seminar was organized by the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship of Brazil, the Centre for Mental Health, Human Rights and Social Justice, and Columbia University. It was possible with funding from the University of Essex and a generous donation from Prof. Hans Wijbrand Hoek, from the Parnassia Psychiatric Institute in the Netherlands.

The event marked a vital convergence of thought leaders and policy implementors dedicated to the betterment of society through the lens of mental health, human rights, and social justice. We believe collaborative dialogues and shared insights are integral in the quest to address homelessness and housing instability with compassion and effectiveness.

Among the international guests were Sam Tsemberis, developer of the Housing First approach, and Leilani Farha, Human Rights lawyer and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Affordable Housing.

The Seminar also marked the national launch of the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy.

Attendees for the seminar included civil society, high-level ministry officials, international Housing First scholars, and Human Rights experts. The convening brought together hundreds of stakeholders from across the nation to learn best practices from those involved in implementing Housing First policies successfully in other countries. Additionally, guests shared perspectives on constructing a rights-based plan to end homelessness in Brazil, and to develop plans for the monitoring and evaluation of the pilot programme. The International Housing First Seminar in Brazil was a great success and received substantive media coverage nationally.

International Housing First seminar in Brazil – November 2023 Read More »

Dainius pŪras Promotes mental heaLTH LEGISLATION IN CHILE – November 2023

On 30 November 2023 Dainius Pūras, Professor at Vilnius University and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, gave a keynote address at an International Seminar on ‘‘Mental Health and Legislation in Chile: Global lessons and Experiences’. The seminar took place at the University of Chile and was organised by the Ministry of Health of Chile and Inter-American Development Bank.

Photo of Dainius Pũras, speaking at International Seminar on 'Mental Health and Legislation in Chile', University of Chile — Photo: Dainius Pūras, University of Chile

The convening focused on facilitating a space for discussion, reflection and learning about experiences in mental health legislative processes, together with nationally and internationally renowned experts in the field.

Welcome speeches were given by Minister of Health, Dr Ximena Aguilera and María Florencia Attademo-Hirt, IDB Representative in Chile.

Dainius’s keynote address considered the importance of comprehensive mental health legislation to improving public mental healthcare in Chile and called for the collaboration of the various stakeholders in this process, including organized civil society, experiential experts, formally trained experts, and parliamentarians to promote the progress of the legislation.

Other speakers included an address by the Undersecretary of Public Health, Andrea Albagli, Dévora Kestel of WHO and panellists from international mental health organisations and representatives from Chile’s executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

During Dainius’s time in Chile, he also met with officials from the Ministry of Health, contacts from the School of Public Health, University of Chile and the Movement for Rights in Mental Health to discuss progress towards the introduction of mental health legislation.

Dainius pŪras Promotes mental heaLTH LEGISLATION IN CHILE – November 2023 Read More »