Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee

The Lee Marcus Invitational Sewanhaka Intra District Model United Nations Conference

Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee

New Hyde Park: Sara Seper

Floral Park: Emma Schlecter

Sewanhaka: Allen Alex

Elmont: Leanna Faulk

Carey : Brenda Darcy

Mental Health: Educating the global community about Mental Health issues and spreading awareness to ensure better treatment for those afflicted with such mental ailments.

Introduction:

In the global community, Mental Health is not addressed or viewed in the same manner that Physical Health is. All over the world communities, families, and doctors search tirelessly for the cure to countless physical ailments, but what is being done for Mental disorders? People suffering from Physical health issues are often perceived by the world as a fellow human in need, yet those afflicted with mental issues are seen as a “strange”, or a “shame to society”. Throughout this committee, we are looking for delegates to take initiatives and devise ways in which we can change the global perception of individuals afflicted with mental disorders. Education and awareness is the key to combating the wrongful impression the global community has in regards to Mental Health and its importance. SOCHUM being the social and humanitarian committee is in search of solutions that will lead to the equal treatment for all people, and for our purposes those who suffer with Mental Health problems. Not only do we need to educate the global community and bring awareness about people suffering from Mental Illnesses, but also we need to change the care and treatment they are receiving world wide. This committee will also require you to foster programs that actually help those with Mental Disorders get the support and assistance they need to keep them safe and healthy.

History of the Committee:

The purpose in forming the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee (SOCHUM) was to deal with issues including, but not limited to: human rights, the management of refugees, crime hindrance, depletion of discrimination and racism, aboriginal concerns, the right to self-determination and drug control around the world. It focuses on the betterment of the lives of civilians everywhere. This committee, part of the 3rd General Assembly in the United Nations (UN), is unique in that it’s the only committee to allow equal representation of all constituent nations. Some of the responsibilities of this committee are to balance and uphold the budget of the UN, as well as intervene in Security Council affairs where decisions to sustain peace cannot be made.

SOCHUM was founded in 1948 after the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. An important factor in recognizing what this committee strives to achieve is that it can only suggest, to specialized committees in the UN as well as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), affirmative actions that should be taken, not demand or enforce them in any way. This committee works closely with other important committees in the UN to efficiently work towards resolving common distresses happening internationally. Their main objective in being a part of the UN is to keep peace and protect civilians in regards to human rights.

History of the Topic:

Mental health is a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. It affects how a person thinks, feels, and acts. Mental health also helps determine how people handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, fromchildhood and adolescence through adulthood for every person. Throughout people’s lives, many experience mental health problems; they affect thinking, mood, and behavior and think it is just a part of growing older. The general populations in most developed countries do not even know the signs distinguishing good from bad mental health. As SOCHUM, it is our responsibility to inform people of all nations about the importance of mental health.

Mental illnesses have attempted to be treated as early as 5000 BCE as evidenced by the discovery of trephined skulls (or skulls with holes in them) in regions that were home to ancient world cultures. Early man widely believed that mental illness was the result of supernatural phenomena such as spiritual or demonic possession, sorcery, the evil eye, or an angry deity and so responded with equally mystical, and sometimes brutal, treatments.Religious and spiritual explanations dominated perceptions and treatment of mental disorders until the early 17th century, when secular explanations finally began to gain acceptance. Madness eventually came to be seen as a physical state, but medical practitioners at the time viewed mental illnesses as self-inflicted emotional states or punishments. The mentally ill were in turn confined to public jails or asylums, and treated as a subhuman species.

The social stigma attached to mental illness was, and to some extent still is, pronounced in countries that have strong ties to family honor and a reliance on marriages to create alliances and relieve families of burdensome daughters. In China, the mentally ill were hidden by their families because they feared that the community would believe that the person was mentally ill because it was the result of immoral behavior by the individual and/or their relatives. The mentally ill were thought to have “bad fate” that would negatively influence anyone who associated with the disturbed individual, scaring away potential suitors and leading to the idea that mental illness was contagious.

However, “bad fate” does not lead to mental illness as many factors contribute to mental health problems such as biological factors like a person’s genes or brain chemistry or life experiences, such as trauma or abuse and even family history of mental health problems can be an underlying cause. Mental health may seem like it only affects few but really it does affect a lot of people. In Australia, one in five Australians experienced a mental illness. It affects people of all ages, educational and income levels and cultures. Mental illnesses are medical conditions that are caused by the lack of capacity for dealing with the ordinary demands of life. Serious mental illnesses include major depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), etc. Most of these are seen in a person’s daily life, and most people think it is normal. In fact it is a sign that there is something wrong with a person’s physical view or position on something. However, mental illnesses are treatable contrary to popular belief.

However more people are resistant and hesitant to interact with people who have mental illnesses. A study taken in the past few years revealed that 38% of people are unwilling to be friends with someone having mental health problems, 64% do not want someone who is schizophrenic as a close coworker, and more than 68% are unwilling to have some with depression marry into their family. But in truth, people have these fears for no reason. Most problems and violence happen are alcohol or drug induced and most people who have a mental disorder try to live normal lives.

Many studies have shown that people who receive proper mental illness treatment have a decreased use of medical services. One study shows that people who were treated for anxiety disorders have cut their hospital visits by 90%, which therefore helped laboratory costs to decrease by 50%, and overall treatment costs also dropped by 35%. Another study shows that people who have not been treated for mental illnesses have to visit their doctor twice as often. Treatment of is also a good option and more people should be informed and educated on this issue because mental illnesses also cause a variety of other problems such as heart disease and ulcers as well and increased vulnerability to things like the common cold to cancer.

Current United Nations Actions:

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon once stated, ”there can be no health without mental health.” The United Nations is well aware of the fact that the public awareness for mental health throughout the world is rapidly increasing. Poor mental health is the root cause of many other world issues and resolving this issue is an essential step to combating other problems. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is “one of the most neglected yet essential issues in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”. Currently, WHO launched the Quality Rights Toolkit, a new tool to stop the abuses against persons with mental health conditions. WHO is collaborating with SOCHUM to integrate mental health into all development efforts including the MDGs.

More recently, WHO has developed a Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan for 2013-2020. This plan looks “to strengthen effective leadership and governance for mental health, provide comprehensive and responsive mental health and social care services in community-based settings, implement strategies for promotion and prevention in mental health, and strengthen information systems, evidence and research in this area.” To achieve this, the World Health Organization has broken down the actions that need to be taken and provided multiple options for implementation. The actions involve developing policies and laws, empowering people with mental disorders and their organizations, and reorganizing mental health care and expanding its coverage. Other actions that are looking to be taken in the plan include an integrated and responsive care system, an incorporation of mental health care in humanitarian emergencies, resource planning, and identifying and providing support for groups who have a poor access to services. WHO has also planned prevention strategies such as increased suicide prevention, the integration of mental health into the routine health information system, and the enhancement of the research capacity and academic collaboration regarding mental health.

The overall goal for this plan is to prevent mental disorders, offer care, stimulate mental well being, enrich recovery, promote human rights and diminish the mortality, morbidity and disability for persons with mental disorders. The World Health Organization’s Mental Health Plan is an all-encompassing initiative focused on combatting the issues surrounding mental health on an international level. However, this plan relies the cooperation and support of all nations.

Bloc Positions

North America:

North America is one of the most modern places on earth in terms of accepting those in the world who don’t fit the social norm .The mental health-care system in the United States is a multibillion-dollar industry that is still not big enough to serve all those who need it. Costs are a big barrier to treatments -- but so are attitudes about mental health.On May 1st, 2014 a presidential proclamation was issues that stated May was the national mental illness awareness month. President Obama stated, “Over the course of a year, one in five adults will experience a mental illness, yet less than half will receive treatment. Because this is unacceptable, my Administration is fighting to make mental health care more accessible than ever. Through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), we are extending mental health and substance use disorder benefits and parity protections to over 60 million Americans”. The president and his administration also stated that they are investing in programs to promote awareness for mental health and training teachers and community members to read for the signs of mental disorders so that everyone that needs help can get the care they get without feeling like an anomaly. The policies in Canada are very similar to the United States, in that the government and other corporations work toward spreading positive awareness about mental health. In fact, the Canadian Mental Health Association’s (CMHA) annual National Bottom Line Conference brings together, policy-makers, researchers, and workers to improve mental health in Canadian workplaces.

South America:

The majority of Latin American countries have placed a significant amount of attention on mental disorders. By 2002, 77% of the countries in the region had a national health plan, and 75% had enacted mental health legislation. Most of this progress occurred in direct response to the Caracas Declaration, which was issued at the Regional Conference for the Reconstructing of Psychiatric Care in Latin America, held in Caracas, Venezuela. The Caracas Declaration called for the integration of mental health into primary care, shifting from hospital-based care to community-based care, and protection of the human rights of people with mental disabilities. A plethora of education and awareness campaigns on mental health have been conducted throughout South America, but only two - Brazil and Ecuador – of the eight had a coordinating body. These campaigns generally addressed the general public, women, men, boys/girls, adolescents and professional groups. One of the main problems in South America is the lack of mental health facilities; Latin America has made it their priority to restructure their health systems to include more community-based, accessible care options for the mentally ill.

Middle East:

The Middle East has been dedicated to providing the minimum necessary mental health care for all, and has made considerable progress in doing so. Throughout the past 15 years the region has began to recognize the value of integrating mental health in existing health systems though many countries in the Middle East are afflicted by religious conflicts, war, sanctions, and refugee crises. Very little attention is given to teaching, interviewing skills or changing attitudes toward mental illness. Many people in the Middle East perceive mental illnesses as a test or punishment from God. Many researchers believe that religion has a heavy influence on the stigmas against the mentally ill; however, according to some religious leaders, illness is one method of a connection with God and should not be considered as alien, but “rather…an event, a mechanism of the body, that is serving to cleanse, purify, and balance us on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual planes.” Statistics indicate the Middle East faces high levels of anxiety and depression, affecting as much as 10%, while many of the more prominent mental disorders, Schizophrenia for instance, affects only 1% of the Arab population worldwide. This is most likely due to the high levels of turmoil in some parts of the region.

Asia:

Throughout Asia, mental health care varies just as much as the diversity. As most of Asia is not as developed as the rest of the world, mental health care is many times not available to people. This began during the colonial period in Asia. The stigma around mental health is very different from physical health as throughout history people with mental health problems are treated VERY differently than people with physical health problems. From the early 1800s to the late 1950s, mental health patients were sent to insane asylums located very far from cities or towns, while the other health care building were situated in the cities. This has especially led to the uneven development of mental health care in the rest of the world, but particularly in Asia.

In many Asian countries today, training in the psychiatry field is relatively new. Most of the senior psychiatrists in Asian countries were trained in the UK, France, Russia, Germany or the U.S. In addition, in many of the underdeveloped parts of Asia such as Indonesia, mental health care is almost non-existent. There is a huge human rights violation problem in these countries as many times they are kept under control with physical restraints and confinement. In other, more developed, parts of Asia such as China, the current situation for mentally ill is a little better as they are more accepted, however that was not always the case. Throughout China’s history, their families kept mental health patients hidden in their houses. When they did come out, they were mocked, laughed at, and sometimes stoned. Any wrongdoing would land them in prison. Fortunately, the treating of the mentally ill has improved.

Recently, many NGOs such as FACEMI and SHARE have stepped in to developing Asian countries to combat the problems surrounding mental health and mental health care. Overall, unfortunately, despite the recent emphasis at the international level, mental health and mental health care are not a high priority in most Asian countries.

Europe:

The topic of Mental Health in Europe has been prevalent for many years, affecting many people. This is why they have developed The European Mental Health Action Plan. Objective 7 in this plan focuses on the importance of education on Mental Health. It's very prominent that information on the number of mental health patients as well as the productivity of mental health institutions is kept up to date. The intended outcome of this is that research can be conducted effectively then distributed internationally, and an agreement on definitions and terms can be reached.