What should be done to promote mental health around the world?

摘要

In Angola, a former child soldier expressed fear and stress because the spirit of a man he killed visited him at night. The community viewed the boy as contaminated and feared retaliation by the spirit. Humanitarian workers consulted traditional healers and learned that the spirit could be expelled by the healer in a cleansing ritual. According to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), an international nongovernmental organization (INGO) provided the necessary food and animal for a sacrifice so that the healer could purify the boy and protect the community. Disability Rights International (DRI; formerly Mental Disability Rights International) filmed abuses at the Ocaranza psychiatric institution in Mexico. The video and a written report were presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. According to a report for DRI by Debra Benko and Brittany Benowitz, the Mexican government agreed to implement significant changes in its mental health system. The government also closed the Ocaranza institution as a result of the hearings and the press attention to DRI's findings.