Eighty years of national mental health policy: Exploring the inclusion of a human rights approach.

Mental health, historically framed as the mere absence of mental health disorders, has led to unequal treatment, resulting in more persons living with mental health challenges. This limited framing of mental health, often woven into policy and practices across a broad range of governance structures, programs, and services, has led to individual and collective discrimination and structural and systemic inequities, culminating in the infringement of fundamental human rights. Using a broader framework for viewing mental health (e.