Presentation Information
[SY-67-03]Roadmap to abolish involuntary hospitalizations and restore the dignity of persons with psychosocial disabilities by Japan Federation of Bar Associations
*Yoshikazu Ikehara (Tokyo Advocacy Law Office(Japan))
Keywords:
de-institutionalization,involuntary hospitalization,the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,biomedical reductionism,roadmap
The features of the mental health system in Japan include huge numbers and long-term inpatients, and heavy use of medication and coercive measures compared with other OECD countries. It can be said that de-institutionalization has not begun yet, and mainstream mental health depends on biomedical reductionism. Italy and Japan seem to be upside-down. Japan ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2014. Japan Federation of Bar Associations adapted the resolution to abolish involuntary hospitalizations and restore the dignity of persons with psychosocial disabilities in line with the CRPD, and organized a task force to make it a reality. Our task force has developed a roadmap to achieve our goal, as required by the CRPD. Abolishing involuntary hospitalizations, promoting de-institutionalization, and protecting community living for persons with psychosocial disabilities cannot be accomplished overnight. We aim to reach a final stage by 2035, twenty years after the ratification of the CRPD. Some psychiatrists criticize JFBA’s opinion, and the CRPD does not understand psychiatry. Now that WHO recommends rights-based, community-based, person-centered, and recovery-oriented mental health reform in line with the CRPD and proposes a holistic approach that embraces all social determinants, the requirements of human rights and mental health are consistent. Discussions on these controversial issues in Japan to date have been limited to theories. People who look in the same direction but have different opinions about how far they will reach have not started and walked partway together. They have spent all their time just discussing which goal is right. However, unfortunately, almost none of us have experienced a situation where there have not been vast numbers of psychiatric beds because we have kept those numbers of beds for over fifty years. Now is the time to start walking together based on the roadmap.