PHA-Exchange> Mentally ill 'suffering neglect' (2)

[Claudio Schuftan]

   From:    kent at hawaii.edu

When we see this sort of report we should be alert to the "blame the victim"
perspective they may offer. This report says that there is a large number of
suicides each year, "mostly in poor countries" but it does not plainly say
that many people commit suicide *because* they are so desperately poor. Poor
societies are criticized for providing inadequate treatment for mental
health problems, but they are not plainly recognized as being major
producers of mental health problems.


Perhaps someone should do a systematic study of the enormous number of
farmers in India--especially in Rajasthan--who have committed suicide. They
have not been able to keep up with their debts. Is unmanageable debt a
mental condition? Well, yes, of course, but the mental health professionals
normally don't see it that way. They look for causes inside the person, not
outside, thus blaming the victim.


I have essayed on "Blaming the Victim, Globally" at
http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2003/issue3/0303p59.asp  The stigma
associated with mental health problems oughts to be associated much more
strongly with the social conditions that generate those problems.
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