A while back, I wrote  a post about the European's World Health Organization Mental Health treaty of 2005.  I may have, in current politically (tee hee) correct terms, "misspoken".  Or, if you'd prefer, told a big-arse whopper.  I'm missing my O.E.D., but it seems that what I stated to be a "treaty", was in fact, simply a written proposal.   I'm going to pause here, to site the fist two paragraphs of Wikipedia's definition of the term "Treaty":

A treaty is an agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely statesinternational organizations. A Treaty may also be known as: and (international) agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, exchange of letters, exchange of notes, accord, memorandum of understanding, etc. Regardless of the terminology, all of these international agreements under international law are equally treaties and the rules are the same. (Note that in United States constitutional law, the term "treaty" has a special meaning which is more restricted than its meaning in international law; see below.)
Treaties can be loosely compared to contracts: both are means of willing parties assuming obligations among themselves, and a party to either that fails to live up to their obligations can be held liable under international law for that breach. The central principle of treaty law is expressed in the maxim pacta sunt servanda—"pacts must be respected".  


Silly me.  Being British, I used the term in a broader sense than it would be taken here in the States.  So I popped on over to the WHO spot, to see what was abroad.  (Sorry, had to do it).  I found a loverly little non-treaty on "Improving The Mental Health Of The Population, 2008", available in pdf form:


Publication based on the four consensus papers developed under the Mental Health Pact focusing on: prevention of depression and suicide; youth, education and mental health; mental health and older people; and mental health in workplace settings. It highlights the opportunities for evidence-based action, as demonstrated by research and practice.

I should point out, that if you feel so inclined, you can spend a lot of time reading all the non-treaties in re Mental Health in Europe.  Now, just because I'm a Brit, it doesn't mean that I have no sense of fair play.  In fact, I was brought up knowing that it's not whether one wins or loses, it's how one plays the game.  So, in light of this, I'm going to dash back over to WHO, and see what sort of non-treaties are available for the mentally ill, Stateside. 


Well, I hate to sound defeatist, but I'm not finding much.  I found myself perusing every other country in the world when I plugged in combinations of "Mental Health, United States of America".  At one point, I ended up in South-East Asia!  I did find this , which when I browsed the options, sent me from Pacific Islands, (which should not be excluded), to completely irrelevant links.  To be honest, I only spent a couple of hours searching for the American non-treaty on Mental Health.  I'd love it if some one would send me a "You pock-faced, spittle-arsed wanker!" (ode to Sandman comics) comment, enlightening me on all the marvelous non-treaties regarding Mental Health in the States.

If we live in a country where President Carter  is the only public figure talking about tomorrows Death Sentence of Troy Davis and the First Ladies Carter and Ford seem to be the only public figures paying attention to the disparity of Mental Health Care here, I wonder what it says about us.  Anyone?......Anyone?......