A new wellbeing rights framework for mental health was launched on World Mental Health Day in the MAC Arts Centre, Belfast. The Give 5 framework, developed by the New Script for Mental Health campaign, is grounded in United Nations and World Health Organisation human rights standards. It is evidence based and highlights essential steps government must take to protect, respect and fulfil people’s right to good mental health. You can find out more and add your support here.

The five, inter-connected elements of the Give 5 framework are as follows:

• Connect the symptoms of ‘mental ill-health’ to their root causes.
• Be active in challenging the overprescribing of antidepressants and in providing a wider range of community-based options for healing.
• Take notice of and act on the knowledge and wisdom of people with first-hand experience.
• Learn from failures in previous policy and practice and support people’s right to openness, honesty and accountability.
• Giving people the dignity, compassion and hope to which they are entitled.

At the launch, Lisa Morrison from New Script explained the rationale behind Give5:

‘We are launching this framework as we believe that while the Public Health Agency’s Take 5 campaign is helpful for individuals, on its own it’s not enough to tackle the mental health crisis here. We can’t have one without the other and believe that both initiatives need to work together. Failure by government to address the steps outlined in Give 5, and to instead place the focus solely on what individuals should do, runs the real risk of increasing feelings of blame and shame amongst individuals’.

Give 5 has already gained significant support, including from UNISON, the largest health union, as well as CDHN.

The former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Professor Dainius Puras, in the launch’s keynote address, endorsed Give5 and highlighted the urgent need for policy changes to uphold the rights outlined in it:

“There is increasing understanding globally that mental health related challenges should be addressed differently, and first this is about fully embracing a human rights-based approach. The heavy reliance on fixing individual “disorders” and further investments in status quo reinforce the vicious cycle of discrimination, disempowerment, coercion and over-medicalisation.

This is why change is needed. It is already happening in many parts of the world, through innovative rights based, non-coercive services and initiatives, such as the Give 5 Rights Framework, which I commend to government and recommend they support.”

You can endorse Give 5 as an individual or an organisation. Click here to do so.

For more information contact Sara Boyce, Organiser, on sara@pprproject.org