Human Rights and Stigma Reduction in the Process of Rehabilitation of the Mentally Ill

Mentally ill persons are approached with stigma and families want to abandon them even in the wake of 21st century. It is a severe human right violation. However there are emerging models caring the destitute mentally ill with individual initiative and family collaboration who bring back the human right of the mentally ill person by removing stigma and caring them with dignity and worth. This paper is a case study of a rehabilitation centre at Kottayam in Kerala run by an ordinary person along with his family caring more than 300 mentally ill including children. The objective of the study is to find out how the stigma reduction through a grass root community assistant rehabilitation model and enhance human right of the mentally ill persons. A qualitative design with case study methodology is followed. The result shows that factors like acceptance of the persons with mentally ill as a family member calling him/her son/daughter and treating them so, allowing them the freedom of expression and interaction, exploring their innate abilities and host of others make them to cross the barriers of stigma. It gives back the human rights lost when they were thrown into the streets. The founder of the centre visits schools colleges, temples, churches and other community centres to disseminate information on mental health. The participants of such interaction program visit the rehabilitation center and understand how mental illness is just like any other chronic illness and spread the message back home. The entire process of community involvement enables to recreate a pro human right perspective towards persons with mental illness. Their dignity is regained; care and love in the centre as if in a family pitch their rights back in position. The entire process removes stigma about mentally ill persons and place them in a high position and prepare the society to own the responsibility to care these persons with cognitive deficits. Thus the care of mentally ill ultimately leads to stigma reduction and prepare the families and communities to accept and care the persons with mental illness. The entire process of stigma reduction contributes to the promotion of human rights of the mentally ill person and creates a model of right based care and rehabilitation of the persons with mental illness