Parliament has done well to pass the Mental Healthcare Bill, 2016, for mental healthcare services and decriminalising attempts at suicide. It is indicative of a modern attitude. Narendra Modi is concerned with the issue of depression. So far the matter was wrapped in a conspiracy of silence. Counselling and modern psychiatry were not taken seriously. The sense of shame attached to mental illness led to concealment. The bill empowers patients to protect their legal rights and facilitates access to treatment. Sterilisation is prohibited at any stage of treatment. A mental patient is also allowed to indicate how he or she should be treated provided the person is knowledgeable enough. The bill is also divorced from the nanny state approach which characterises outmoded colonial legislation. Archaic clause in statue books are a hindrance to good governance. They clog up criminal justice and sometimes cause misinterpretation. The bill for instance states that a person attempts suicide only under great mental stress. He should not be accused of committing a penal offence. Prosecution for attempted suicide has so far been a sign of social backwardness.
The new Bill gives a person full rights over his or her life. Legal sanctity should be given to living wills. Passive euthanasia should also be legally recognised. But it should apply only to those who are in a terminal stage of illness. The bill can only be a success if society develops a healthy attitude to cure mental patients.
