How mental health law discriminates against persons with mental illness

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Szmukler
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Patient Autonomy ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Involuntary Treatment ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
People With Mental Illness

Mental health law discriminates against people with mental illness when it comes to detention and involuntary treatment. This is evident when we compare such law with that applying in the rest of medicine, certainly in countries with well-developed legal systems. Mental health law fails to respect patient ‘autonomy’ (or self-determination) in the same way as it does in the rest of medicine. Furthermore, a confusion between a person’s health interests and the protection of others results in laws permitting the preventive detention of people with mental disorders—probably uniquely so—on the basis of ‘risk’ of harm, without any offence having been committed. Though people with mental illness are responsible for a very small percentage of violent offences, they can be preventively detained—on grounds reserved for them—while people without a mental illness—equally risky to others or even more so—cannot.

scholarly journals The new French mental health law regarding psychiatric involuntary treatment

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Louis Senon ◽  
Carol Jonas ◽  
Michel Botbol
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Involuntary Treatment ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Need For Treatment ◽  
Patients Rights ◽  
Legal Procedures

The French Republic has had four laws governing the detention of people with a mental illness. The first dates from 1838 and remained in place until 1990. The most recent one was issued on 27 September 2013; it confirmed the role of the judge and strengthened the legal procedures. This new French mental health law is an attempt to find a balance between the protection of patients' rights and the need for treatment.

scholarly journals Kenya's mental health law

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 96-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Ndetei ◽  
Job Muthike ◽  
Erick S. Nandoya
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
International Rights ◽  
State Protection

Kenya's Mental Health Act 1989 is now outdated. It is a signatory to international rights conventions that provide for state protection of the rights of people with mental illness, their property and their treatment. There is, however, a glaring failure to implement the existing legal provisions. A new Mental Health Bill that aims to respond comprehensively to the challenges affecting mental health services in Kenya is awaiting enactment.

scholarly journals Mental health law in Ghana

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Hudson Walker ◽  
Akwasi Osei
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Health System ◽  
Mental Health System ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Act ◽  
New System

In 2012 Ghana passed a new Mental Health Act, which aimed to create a new system of mental healthcare in Ghana. The Act includes provisions for the creation of a modern, community-based mental health system and for the protection of the rights of persons with mental disorders. This article discusses the implications of the Act and the progress which has been made towards its implementation.

scholarly journals Mental health law reforms in Uganda: lessons learnt

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Ssebunnya ◽  
Sheila Ndyanabangi ◽  
Fred Kigozi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Work In Progress ◽  
Lessons Learnt ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Health Legislation

Ugandan mental health legislation, which dates from 1964, principally aims to remove persons with mental disorders from the community but also to protect their safety, by keeping them in confinement, although this has been without consideration for clinical care. In response to criticism from various stakeholders and advocates and the need to reflect modern clinical care, Uganda undertook to review and amend the mental health legislation, as part of the Mental Health and Poverty Project (MHaPP). We report on work in progress advancing new legislation.

scholarly journals Mental health legislation in Algeria

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoubir Benmebarek
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Delivery Of Care ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
French Colonial ◽  
Health Legislation

Mental health law in Algeria originates from the French colonial era. Although several pieces of legislation deal with mental disorders, their implementation remains unsatisfactory and does not meet the real needs of healthcare providers. Amendment of the current mental health law is required to enhance the delivery of care but also to protect those with a mental disorder from abuse.

scholarly journals Harnessing the power of fusion? A valiant but flawed effort to obviate the need for a distinct mental health law

2014 ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Paul S. Appelbaum
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Differential Treatment ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Involuntary Hospitalization ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
Medical Disorders ◽  
Current Proposal

<p>When it comes to involuntary interventions, the notion that people with mental disorders should be treated identically to persons with general medical disorders has an undoubted appeal. As Dawson and Szmukler have argued previously, principles of fairness and non-discrimination would appear to be well served by basing involuntary hospitalization and treatment in both contexts on incapacity to provide consent. In this commentary, I take note of some of the intellectual forebears of the Szmukler, Daw, and Dawson proposal, and ask why – despite the formidable intellects that have lined up behind similar approaches in the past – they have not been adopted. I also consider some aspects of the current proposal itself, including the unresolved tensions between equal and differential treatment of persons with mental disorders, and the potential practical consequences, especially for persons with general medical disorders. I conclude that the rationale for fusing two disparate bodies of law may itself be irremediably flawed, and the undesirable consequences significant.</p><p> </p><p> </p>

Mental health law

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Brain Injuries ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Mental Capacity ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Capacity Act 2005 ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
Mental Capacity Act

This chapter gives an overview of mental health law. Whilst focusing on the legal specifics in England and Wales, the underlying ethical issues extend to all jurisdictions. It explains the duties that law places on health systems and clinicians to support patients to make decisions about their own health. However, it also explains the legal frameworks in place for children and people with mental illness, brain injuries, learning disabilities, dementia, or personality disorder who may require clinicians to decide their health care. Basic concepts of the Mental Health Act 1983, the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and the Children Act 1989 are described, and parts of the law that psychiatrists need to know are presented concisely and in psychiatric context. The chapter includes a practical approach to mental capacity assessment.

scholarly journals Mental health legislation in Chile

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 90-92
Author(s):  
Andrea Bahamondes ◽  
Alvaro Barrera ◽  
Jorge Calderón ◽  
Martin Cordero ◽  
Héctor Duque
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Disorder ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Standards Of Care ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Mental Health Legislation ◽  
Health Legislation ◽  
The 19Th Century

Chile does not have a mental health law or act, and no single legal body protecting those deemed to be afflicted by a mental disorder, setting standards of care and protecting and promoting their rights. Instead, pieces of mental health legislation are scattered about in different legal and administrative documents, including the country's Constitution, Health Code, Criminal Code and Civil Code. Remarkably, mental health legislation was the object of virtually no change or amendment from the middle of the 19th century until the year 2001. New pieces of legislation have been issued since but, despite improvements in the protection of people suffering from a mental illness, a mental health law in Chile is still needed.

Bipolar disorder

2020 ◽  
pp. 6498-6501
Author(s):  
Kate E.A. Saunders ◽  
John Geddes
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Bipolar Disorder ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Depressed Mood ◽  
Chronic Mental Illness ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Medical Settings ◽  
Mental Health Law ◽  
Mood Instability ◽  
Depressive States

Bipolar disorder is a highly heritable, lifelong, relapsing, and remitting chronic mental illness. While traditionally characterized as a disorder with distinct periods of elated and depressed mood, it is now clear that interepisode mood instability is common. Comorbid psychiatric and medical conditions are common. When occurring in medical settings mania can be both disruptive and hazardous, and may require active psychiatric management. Pharmacological approaches are the mainstay of treatment, although adjunctive psychotherapies are helpful in preventing relapse. Compulsory detention in hospital using mental health law may sometimes be required for both manic and depressive states.

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