Embedding our existing human rights laws into Victoria’s mental health system is long overdue and holds great promise

Out the front of every psychiatric unit, before starting work, I would take a Valium, beta blockers (to rest my heart rate) and keep some smokes on hand. Being an advocate for people on compulsory treatment orders across most metropolitan psychiatric units was a scary experience, but not for the reasons you’ve been taught to believe.

Violence pervades mental health units. But unlike what you’ve been told in the media, most of it is done to people with lived experience of mental health challenges.

This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.