| Abstract [eng] |
Mental health stigma is a negative perspective of people with a mental illness. It involves stereotyping and prejudices towards the person who has a mental illness. Commonly, people believe that mental health stigma is associated with how people treat a person with a mental health condition in a society, and considering them inferior is the only form of stigma that comes under the realm of public or social stigma. With the structural development in society, mental health stigma has spread widely in other spheres as well, such as in workplaces and even strongly embedded in legislation. Awareness alone cannot help to control mental health stigma and its outcome. There is a need for the introduction of reforms at every level to influence people in treating people with mental illness with equality and empathy, rather than considering them dangerous. Internationally, the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO) have introduced such policy documents and frameworks, which provide a rights-based approach to dealing with people with mental health conditions. At the national level, member states of the UN are also gradually introducing such reforms. India is a country that is not only a member state but also a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) since 2007. So, there is a major shift in the development, introduction, and implementation of laws and policies regarding mental health in India. With a population of 1.45 billion currently, the rate of people affected by mental disorders is also high. Along with it, mental health stigma in all forms is also very deeply rooted in society at many different levels. In recent years, the Indian government has introduced a series of policies such as the National Mental Health Policy 2014 (NMHP), the Indian Mental Healthcare Act 2017 (IMHA), and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 (RPwD). This study aims to evaluate how much these policies align with standards and values set by the UN and WHO frameworks concerning mental health stigma. For this, the strengths and weaknesses of the policy documents will be measured. The final task is to identify gaps in policy to introduce more effective designs in the future. To achieve this aim, a normative policy analysis approach is being adopted through which an evaluation criterion has been developed, derived from the UN and WHO frameworks, such as community inclusion, anti-stigma awareness, and free and informed will. For the analysis, the deductive content analysis method is used, which assessed the Indian mental health stigma policy documents under target questions set according to the above-mentioned criteria. This master’s thesis consists of a table of contents, a list of abbreviations, a list of tables, a summary in English and Lithuanian, an introduction, a chapter regarding theoretical aspects of mental health stigma, a methodology section, an evaluation of Mental Health Policy documents of India under UN and WHO frameworks, a conclusion, recommendations, references, and appendices. |
