Can a human right to good mental health be justified?

Bielby, Phil

Abstract

Can a human right to good mental health be justified? This is an under-explored question: until recently, rights in relation to mental health have been framed and debated primarily in terms of their relevance to psychosocial disability and mental ill-health/mental distress. By contrast, in this article, I propose the basis of a normative justification for a population-wide right to good mental health, focusing in particular on individuals who do not experience mental ill-health/distress or do not have (or may never have) a psychiatric diagnosis or a psychosocial disability. The articleis structured into three parts. First, I will outline the emergence of a population-wide right to good mental health in mental health discourse, led by recent reports published by the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Danius Pūras. I will then go on to explore what we might understand by ‘good mental health’. Finally,I will explain how a right to good mental health may be justified, drawing on insights from compassion, ‘vulnerable agency’, and James Wilson's account of ‘a right to public health’. I then respond to feasibility and demandingness concerns about such a right, which together inform the basis of the qualified public health right to good mental health I propose.

Citation

Bielby, P. (2024). Can a human right to good mental health be justified?. Bioethics, 38(8), 733-740. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13329

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 9, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jul 4, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-10
• Deposit Date: Jul 8, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 5, 2026
• Journal: Bioethics
• Print ISSN: 0269-9702
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-8519
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 733-740
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13329
• Keywords: Compassion; Good mental health; Human right; Public health
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4708604