Ombudsman: Calls for excluding people with mental problems exacerbates stigma
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, August 30
The Public Defender of Georgia Nino Lomjaria has commented on the recent incident when a 3-year-old child was injured by a passer-by on Pekini Street. Allegedly, the woman has mental health problems.
According to Lomjaria, numerous calls were made in social networks about exclusion and isolation of people with mental health problems. The Ombudsman believes this is problematic.
“A person's mental health status should be determined by the investigation and, given the lack of relevant information, emphasizing this issue reinforces the stigma of people with mental health problems,” she said.
The Ombudsman believes that despite changes in the field of mental health, many systemic problems remain unresolved, which impede the effective implementation of existing services.
“Lack of mental health information in the community, along with the difficulty of timely identifying the problem, raises inappropriate discussion of the issue and enhances the existing taboo. However, neglect by families and the absence of a support network remains a problem,” she said.
She also stressed that the lack of social services complicates the timely identification of mental health problems and the provision of support services, adding it also prevents the inclusion of these persons in suitable services.
The Ombudsman called on the relevant agencies to step up their efforts in the field of mental health, including facilitating the process of deinstitutionalization and taking effective steps to develop community-based services.
“It is important the state paid more attention to raising public awareness and promoting preventive measures,” she said.
Lomjaria also called on everyone to be careful when discussing the issue and not to reinforce the taboo and stigma of people with mental health problems.
On August 27, Tamar Sadzagvlishvili stabbed a three-year-old child who was walking down the street with her parents on Pekini Avenue. The woman walked up to the child and stabbed her twice with a knife in the face. She walked away from the scene immediately after committing the crime. She was later arrested by the police.
The lawyer of the detainee, Alexander Gabunia says the criminal persecution towards his client should be suspended, claiming she has psychic problems. Gabunia states that Sadzaglishvili should undergo a psychiatric-psychological examination.
Sadzaglishvili was officially charged on August 29. She was charged for deliberately injuring a 3-year old child and attempting to injure her minor sister as well.
