Bermuda lags behind all other similar jurisdictions in its protection afforded to citizens with mental health issues — and the lack of inclusion is frustrating other efforts to advocate for them.

One in four residents will experience a problem with their mental health, a Bermuda Mental Health Forum heard last night.

For Winston Rogers of the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, the absence of any human rights protection explained why mental illness was so heavily stigmatised on the Island.

“As long as that remains a problem then mental illness will remain a major problem in Bermuda,” Mr Rogers told the audience.

Mike Hanson, chairman of the Human Rights Commission, said the organisation regularly heard tales of blatant discrimination against persons suffering from mental illness. However, international businesses based in Bermuda had better coverage in the employee handbooks than under the Island’s own legal system, he said.

“We can’t do anything until the law is changed — we can only throw up our hands in despair when another person comes in and says they are being discriminated against,” Mr Hanson said. “We shouldn’t be under any doubt about how far behind the times we are.”

Senior Magistrate Juan Wolffe, who updated the gathering on the good results seen from the pilot mental health courts, said a maximum effort needed to be brought to bear on the Island’s legislators.

Mr Wolffe also called the existing Mental Health Act “extremely archaic” and in need of “a total revamp”.

“But it’s going to require the political will to get it done, and get it done quickly,” Mr Wolffe added.

The panel had fielded a question from a visibly emotional member of the audience, saying she could not understand why the existing system of support would not intervene for a person refusing to take their medication until they became explicitly violent.

Defence lawyer Saul Dismont, who serves with the mental health court, said that under Bermuda’s current legislation “somebody has to become extremely ill before something can happen” — whereas in British courts, a person could be compelled to take their medication under a residential order.

“We are very far away from there — our Act is very outdated and needs to come up with the modern era,” Mr Dismont said.

The event heard from rights advocate Susan Thomas, who said her own disorders such as anxiety and depression had been brought under control with medication, and that she enjoyed a normal and happy life.

Ms Thomas advised: “Speak to your children and make them aware. Create a safe dialogue so that they can come to you.”

Added Mr Rogers: “Even if they don’t want to listen, we need to keep talking. Most importantly, we need to talk to the people up on the Hill. Until the law changes, we are just going to be spinning our wheels in the mud.”

The Mental Health Forum is continuing its educational campaign with visits to local schools. Board member Jodi Lewis said the response from students had been overwhelmingly positive, and that the shift in attitude was being led by younger people.

The overriding concern of the night was the imperative to secure adequate human rights coverage for mental illness, which Mr Hanson said would be accomplished as easily as adding a single new word to the Act.

“Keep fighting the good fight, and don’t get despondent,” Mr Wolffe told the gathering at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute as the evening closed.

“In time, trust me; I tell you this — we won’t be having this conversation.”