Show Notes
On this episode of the Human Rights Podcast, LLM Master's student Jennifer Hough speaks with Dr. Charles O’Mahony, a lecturer at the University of Galway's School of Law, specialising in disability and mental health law and policy, and Dr. Pat Bracken, an independent psychiatrist who argues against the medicalisation of human distress and advocates for strengthening person-centred, community-based solutions. The conversation considers the reform of the Mental Health Act which is currently underway in Ireland and considers how current law fails to align with the the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD ). It also questions the current system of forced psychiatric treatment and considers other ways of assisting people in distress.
Notes: During the course of our conversation, we referenced a number of reports and issues. You can read more about the various topics in links below:
* Reform of Mental Health Act, 2001 and issues around alignment with human rights law - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160252724000530?via%3Dihub * The WHO Guidance on community mental health services: Promoting person-centred and rights-based approaches document is part of the WHO Guidance and technical packages on community mental health services set of publications. It provides a detailed description of person-centred and human rights-based approaches in mental health, and summary examples of good practice services around the world. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240025707 * Dr Pat Bracken paper on the power of psychiatry - https://madinireland.com/2025/02/dr-pat-bracken-psychiatric-power-a-personal-view/ * New models of care, Kyrie Farm - https://madinireland.com/2024/12/kyrie-farm-research-distress-was-normalised-and-understood-as-part-of-the-human-condition/ Trieste: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/piis2215-0366(21)00252-2/fulltext * IHREC: Access to Justice: Implementation of Article 13 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - https://www.ihrec.ie/documents/access-to-justice-implementation-of-article-13-of-the-un-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/
The podcast was produced by Jennifer Hough, Gráinne McGrath and Kirsten Larson. Intro Music: 'Smarties Intro -FMA Podcast Suggestions' by Birds for Scale (Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 international License). Outro Music 'Smarties Outro -FMA Podcast Suggestions' by Birds for Scale (Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 international License).
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