By Dr Keith M Harris, Senior Lecturer in the Charles Sturt School of Psychology.

‘Our minds, our rights’ is the theme for this year’s World Health Organisation (WHO) World Mental Health Day on Tuesday 10 October, but what does that mean? What are mental health rights?

Work done in my lab has produced sustainable instruments for suicide risk assessment and other factors, helped elucidate smartphone stress, and work on improving clinical education and training.

However, we generally don’t venture into the area of mental health rights.

Previously, the WHO declared mental health as a universal human right, which is this year’s theme of the World Federation of Mental Health.

These themes and slogans sound legitimate but what do they really mean and how are we all following through on protecting these rights?

This year the WHO emphasised the right to be protected from mental health risks and the right for inclusion in the community.

Inclusion seems to be a good starting point for addressing mental health rights.

There have been countless studies providing evidence supporting the ‘minority stress’ theory/model, the additional strains, including poorer mental health, felt by many types of minority groups. (See a recent update and review of the model.)

These can be indigenous peoples (minorities in their own land), sexual minorities (LGBTQ+), gender minorities (nonbinary, fluid, etc.), religious minorities (including free thinkers), and those who suffer from mental disorders. See examples on autism sufferers, ethnic minority stress, and impacts on indigenous Australians.

What can we do about inclusion?

Typically, we mostly just have control over our own lives, the way we act towards colleagues, neighbours, etc. Sometimes, though, we have opportunities to take greater actions.

Given such a rare opportunity, how easy is it to say ‘Yes’ to a simple act that could help protect and improve the mental health rights of our friends, colleagues and neighbours?

We Australians have that unique opportunity now to perform a small act of increasing inclusion that can go a long way toward a better future for us all.

It is difficult to fix society, to make everyone more accepting and caring about their neighbours on Earth. We can, however, take action within our institutions, our schools, factories, sports clubs, etc.

While many of our organisations are already open and accommodating to the diversity of our communities, we often still have to contend with that other direction – protections from mental health risks.

Many institutions display progressive slogans and have official policies that purport to protect the wellbeing of all staff. Reality can tell a different story.

For those who read the news or watch documentaries, there is a familiar tale of facts: high-placed bullies are protected, staff suffer, and maybe years later it is all exposed and everyone wonders how the organisation could be so stupid as to support bullies that were degrading the workplace and the organisation’s primary objectives.

Psychological science has firmly and consistently documented the organisational (in additional to personal) costs of workplace bullying. See examples for long-term mental health effects from workplace bullying, for the economic costs of harming mental health in the workplace, and on the lack of HR implementation of those ‘nice’ slogans and polices.

Threats to mental health, such as workplace bullying, are not limited to large for-profit organisations; they exist within our institutions of higher learning as well. A recent review highlights some of the issues unique to our sector.

For additional examples, a 2018 media report revealed hundreds of cases of bullying in UK universities, and described university responses as ‘ ... HR managers appearing more concerned about avoiding negative publicity than protecting staff’.

That contrasts with the suggestion that the road away from bullying is a return to the traditional values of academia, collegiality, and academic freedom.

While programs and slogans are everywhere, bullying and harassment of staff can be common, and protection of bullies in high positions the norm.

That contrasts with psychological science findings (see above and many more) demonstrating that failing to protect staff mental health from harm undermines even profit and other organisational aims.

We can all do better

We can work to ensure we protect our colleagues’ and classmates’ mental health from bullying, harassment and exclusion (which is a type of bullying).

At the Charles Sturt School of Psychology, staff and students have worked on a great variety of research projects aimed at promoting mental health.

However, we too rarely concern ourselves with mental health rights (see an example of mental health rights of incarcerated children).

What more can we do to address mental health rights? Can’t we combine the ideals of academic freedom with the rights for inclusiveness and freedom from mental harm?

Our lab is now working on interactions between physiological and mental health, such as through the gut-brain axis model (aka brain-gut connection; see a brief explanation).

Exploring that interplay between body and mind is leading us toward a better understanding of our overall health and wellbeing.

And so it goes for mental health rights; there is an interaction between environmental factors and mental health.

Inclusion is a good step towards protecting mental health rights. Inclusion opens the door to opportunities and a better life, though it doesn’t guarantee it.

Protection from harm is a great additional step. Beyond slogans and policies, protecting our families, colleagues, and neighbours from unnecessary mental harm seems legitimate. Psychological science supports standing up for mental health rights.

The evidence is clear, we can and should rise and say ‘Yes’ to inclusion, and ‘No’ to mental health harms in our workplaces and our communities.