18.11.2014 Views

human rights and legislation who resource book on mental health

human rights and legislation who resource book on mental health

human rights and legislation who resource book on mental health

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Table 1. Comparis<strong>on</strong> of definiti<strong>on</strong>s of <strong>mental</strong> ill <strong>health</strong><br />

Term<br />

Mental Illness<br />

Mental Disorder<br />

1. Scope<br />

Very narrow<br />

Narrow<br />

2. Advantages<br />

• Well defined<br />

• In comm<strong>on</strong> usage <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

hence understood by all<br />

stakeholders (albeit<br />

occasi<strong>on</strong>ally with<br />

different meanings)<br />

• Compatible with medical classificatory<br />

systems<br />

• Easy to operati<strong>on</strong>alize<br />

3. Disadvantages<br />

• Reinforces the “medical<br />

model”<br />

• Includes a range of c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s, from<br />

the most benign to extremely serious;<br />

this may be a limitati<strong>on</strong> in situati<strong>on</strong>s<br />

when the aim is to restrict applicability<br />

to <strong>on</strong>ly the most serious <strong>mental</strong> <strong>health</strong><br />

c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s<br />

• Includes a range of c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s, some<br />

of which may not be the focus of<br />

<strong>mental</strong> <strong>health</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>legislati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> e.g. <strong>mental</strong><br />

retardati<strong>on</strong><br />

24

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!