Security Under The Equality Act: What Is A Disability?

Valuing People Now 2001; Putting People First 2007; Human Rights Act 1998; Mental Health Act 2007; Mental Capacity Act 2005; The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003; Disability Discrimination Act 2005; safeguarding children and vulnerable adults policies; key aspects of current related legislation for England, Wales and Northern Ireland

| The Mental Capacity Act 2005 prevents people who lack mental capacity from being mistreated or wilfully neglected.

The purpose of this essay is to explain the definitions of mental health, mental illness and psychiatric disability, using bipolar disorder as an example to illustrate these points. Bipolar disorder will also be used to explain the concepts of the medical and social models of disability, highlight the influence these two models could have on people with the disorder and the experiences they might encounter. There will be a focus on some of the experiences a person suffering from mental illness might have in society, the effect these experiences can have on an individual and the influence of stigmas and stereotypes. This leads to the final discussion point, the action of self-disablement. This section discusses how a person with a mental health issue can be influenced by labels, stigmas and stereotypes, and how this can stop them from seeking help and achieving their goals.

Legislation in New Zealand such as The Human Rights Act 1993, section 21 and the Employment Rights Act 1997 are in place to prohibit the discrimination on the grounds of mental illness in areas such as housing, training, education and employment. The incidence of stigma and discrimination in these areas is however still continuing to be an issue for those with a mental illness. It has become apparent through large amounts of research that most incidences of stigma and discrimination are usually reported through research studies and surveys (Peterson & Barnes & Duncan 2008; Newell & Gournay, 2000). El-Badri & Mellsop (2007) suggest that most research on stigma tends to center on attitudes and beliefs of the public and how they view those with a mental illness. Much less emphasis on research has involved the personal experience, self-stigma and quality of life of the person with the illness and how they fit within the community. Badri & Mellsop's (2007) study Stigma and quality of life as experienced by

This piece of legislation applies to Winterbourne house as it outlines the importance of maintaining the rights of those suffering from a mental health disorder. Those suffering from a mental health disorder may suffer from low self esteem due to the fact that mental health disorders are still surrounded with a stigma. Those working closely with these individuals must ensure that they do not feel they are being discriminated against and must maintain their self confidence, self esteem and self respect.

Mental Health Act 1983 to ensure that people that have mental disorders get the care and treatment needed.

Article 4 of the act intrigues to me because of the language used to change the fact that it could come across as discrimination. Impairment in other words means ‘abnormality’ which could come across as belligerent to those who suffer with psychological disorders, this then would present them as ‘lesser’ and therefore more likely to prejudice comments. However the word ‘impairment’ implies that someone isn’t able to lead a normal life and in some cases that is untrue. Recently the government has canvassed through radio and posters to convince the public that there is nothing wrong with having any psychological disorders, and these people shouldn’t be marginalised. Some people use the word ‘mental disorder’ when describing someone with a mental health problem because it again leads these people to be marginalised and have prejudice thoughts about them all the time. Additionally, these certain people do have amazing talents, have successful lives and have a normal life because their society has been taught different.

Individuals with a mental health illness tend to experience discrimination due to misinformation, assumptions and stereotyping. Many people in our society are not educated on the subject of mental illnesses and often have misconceptions about the conditions and what affects these pre conceived ideas can have on the individual suffering from the

This act bought together a range of anti-discrimination acts to protect people, children and young people against discrimination for having a disability, the colour of their skin or their gender.

Mental Health Act 1983 and 2007, for somebody to be treated as mental illness or mental disorder the Mental Health Act must also be involved. The Mental Health Act was started in the 1983 and was then amended in the 2007. The Mental Health Act 2007 was also amended the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The Mental Health Act 1983 was covering the following mental health disorder such as mental illness, mental impairment, severe mental impairment and psychopathic disorder. Then it was later amended in Mental Health Act 2007 which has provided a definition of a ‘mental disorder’ has does two things by improving the understanding of who can be treated under the Health Act and has increased the number of illness and disorders that can lead to the detention

Stigma and discrimination is negative aspect experienced by mentally ill patients it is a barrier that prevents them from living a normal life therefore it is vital to safe guard and advocate for them to maintain a normal life (Equality Act,

Living Well action 3.5.5 requires all government agencies or community managed mental health organisations proving services to people with a mental illness to respond to the individual aspirations of clients to access education, training and employment. This is especially important in terms of the positive impact that employment can have on a person’s ability to maintain tenancy.

A strong case can be made for investing in mental health, whether to enhance individual and world wellbeing, improve life span, or even to enable people living with mental illnesses to have a better quality of life. Mental health problems account for a quarter of all ill health yet they receive less than 6% of all health research funding, people with these health conditions usually experience poor access to help services and lower quality care than those with physical health problems. Addressing mental and physical health needs together would be more cost effective for the NHS and would benefit the increasing numbers of people dealing with untreated mental illness.

Policies have an important role in regulating and shaping the values in a society. The issues related to mental health are not only considered as personal but also affecting the relationships with significant others. The stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health can be traced to the lack of legislation and protection of rights (Rodriguez del Barrio et al., 2014). The policy makers in mental health have a challenging task to protect the rights of individuals as well as the public (Swigger & Heinmiller, 2014). Therefore, it is essential to analyse the current mental health policies. In Canada, provinces adopt their own Mental Health Acts (MHA) to implement mental health services. As of January 15, 2016, there are 13 mental health acts in Canada (Gray, Hastings, Love, & O’Reilly, 2016). The key elements, despite the differences in laws, are “(1) involuntary admission criteria, (2) the right to refuse treatment, and (3) who has the authority to authorize treatment” (Browne, 2010). The current act in Ontario is Mental Health Act, 1990.

The world is facing an emergency in the area of human rights in the mental health sector as human rights of the people with mental disabilities have been violating (World Health Organisation). . Many countries in the world and Australia itself have legislation to treat a person with mental illness against his/her wish or without their consent which is the abuse of their basic human rights. The mental health legislation which is called Involuntary Treatment Orders involves treatment and detention of people with mental illness against their wish and it is total violation of the rights of people with mental illness who are subjected to these treatment orders. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) recognizes that people with disabilities should have freedom from torture and will be given the right to make their own decisions (Barriga, 2013). Therefore, the mental health legislation in Australia also being reviewed by a number of Australian governments in the light of principles set out in UNCRPD (Mcsherry & Wilson, 2015). Consequently, there are some provisions have been made in the recent mental health reform specially to involuntary treatment orders to empower consumers rights which are going to be discussed in the following essay. The Mental health Act 2014 is the major aspect of mental health reform to promote recovery-oriented practice, minimise the use and duration of compulsory treatment, safeguard the rights and dignity of people