Empowering mentally ill people so that they can make decisions and advocate for themselves is an important part of their treatment. It strengthens them and gives them confidence. It also reintegrates them back into their family and their community. What’s more, advocacy by mentally ill people brings about lasting change.

Through consultations we listen to mentally ill people. We allow them to articulate their needs, their ambitions and tell us about the world they live in. For many this is the first time they have been listened to at all, let alone talking in front of a large group of people. Such an experience is often very moving and sometimes scary for the participants.

Consultations help people come to terms with their illness and accept that something can be done about it. It helps them to realise that they have rights and that those rights need to be respected.

We encourage mentally ill people to form self-help groups and user groups (or consumer groups as they are sometimes known) as a further way for them to realise and assert their rights.

The aim of these groups is to support mentally ill people in their recovery, but also to act as a platform for advocacy by mentally ill people so that they can hold governments and mental health providers to account. These groups are led by mentally ill people themselves and are just facilitated by BasicNeeds.

In Northern Ghana, the Amaschina Self-Help Association supports the functioning of self-help groups and provides training in group dynamics and leadership to foster group confidence and effectiveness.

In Sri Lanka, consumer groups have been formed to lobby the government for change. These groups are just beginning but they have formed their own structure and written and voted on their own constitution.

In Accra, our programme in the capital of Ghana, user groups have become a central focus of the way we work. Mentally ill people themselves have started to lobby the government for change, recently presenting a presentation demanding action. They have a voice at last.

This part of our work is vitally important. There will be no long term change in mental health care unless we give mentally ill people a voice and help them stand up and shout for their rights.

We also build the capacity of mentally ill people through helping them to recommence simple daily activities and chores and return to their livelihood activities. Part of this is building the ability of mentally ill people to make decisions for themselves. This can be a big step for many people after years with a very serious illness that has been left untreated.

Chandrawaithe Dissanayake is a woman from Sri Lanka who had been suffering from depression. Through our Community Mental Health programme she was stabilised. Once she was able, she was enrolled in our ‘Home Gardens’ project to allow her to earn an income. She planted chillies, cabbages and tomatoes in nurseries, a little distance from her home.

However, she soon realised that it was taking her too much time to visit the nurseries so she moved her plants directly to her own garden. She then built her own irrigation system from the nearby canal so that she could easily water her produce. She took all these decisions and the initiative to do this on her own; something that months before would have seemed impossible.

Only with capacity building can mentally ill people develop their skills and the ability to live a normal life.