In our society there are those of us that require treatment for something other than broken bones or disease. Mental health is one of those issues that few people are willing to face, if someone has a cast on their leg, you can see immediately what is wrong with them; with mental illness it is difficult to know what to say, or do. We are often shown pictures in TV dramas of sociopaths and the mentally ill, as if they are all to be lumped in the same category: dangerous.
This is prejudice in one of its worst forms, born from a lack of understanding.
While the Mental Health Act and the Courts have not provided a definition, preferring instead to consider each person on a case-by-case basis, there is a general definition of ‘mental illness, arrested or incomplete development of mind, psychopathic disorder and any other disorder or disability of the mind’. This is very general and, since we still know so little about the workings of the human mind; maybe that is right.
The Mental Health Act
While the Act does not give a specific definition, it has given three distinct forms of mental disorder:
Severe mental impairment – which is incomplete or arrested mental development, usually with serious aggression.
Mental impairment – similar to severe mental impairment but with arrested intelligence and not as high a level of aggression.
Psychopathic disorder – which they term a ‘persistent disorder or disability of the mind with abnormal aggression or sociopathic tendencies
Now, I don’t know about you but they all sound fairly similar to me, however, I am not a Doctor so perhaps there are significant differences.
Informal Admission into Hospital
If a person is sufficiently aware that they are suffering from some form of mental illness, then they can choose to be admitted into hospital for treatment, just as they would if they had pneumonia, for example. Once admitted, they retain all their basic rights for care and protection from harm. Their rights are not diminished or restricted just because they may or may not have a mental disorder.
Admission Via the Court
A person can be forced to have mental health treatment if the court or another responsible body, such as social services, deem it necessary for their health and safety. This is known as ‘sectioning’ and is often treated as a last resort. This can be done for up to six months and would need to be renewed at the end of that period if further treatment is required.
An individual can also be admitted against their will for assessment, possibly following treatment, for a period of no longer than 28 days, under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act. If the treatment is unsuccessful or if the medical staff feel that further in-patient treatment is necessary then they cannot simply extend the stay; they must apply for the patient to be ‘sectioned’.
The Police have also been granted various powers to remove a person from their home or from a public place if there is a serious threat to life. They cannot admit someone to a Psychiatric Unit, however, they must deliver them to a hospital where the patient can be detained for up to six hours by the nurse or transferred to the requisite unit by a Doctor.
Patients Rights
During all of this it needs to be remembered that the patients themselves still have rights; they may, for the most part, be able to function in a lucid manner and understand what is happening to them. They are also still entitled to have their needs met in the form of food, housing and protection from abuse and harassment.
Were it not for the circumstance they find themselves in, then they would have every right to claim a breach of their human rights by the very fact that they have been detained, however the European Court of Human Rights, and our own Parliament, has stated that it is lawful to detain someone under these circumstances. In addition, the Mental Health Act goes to great lengths to ensure that patients are made aware of what is happening to them, the treatment they are to receive and that, if they wish, they can apply to the Mental Health Review Tribunal for an independent decision.
how long is a patient allowed to be kept in seclusion without exercise or outdoor activities? is it against human basic rights not to have access to open windows in their room and hot and cold running water?
ted - 1 October 2011 @ 9:37 PM
Hi,
I have recently been detained under the MH act that I feel is wrong.A few years ago I suffered grade 3 pre cancer and I was feeling tired, my throat lumpy, under arm lumpy, extreme pain in my back and I asked if I could have a smear test.I was turned away 5 x because they said they have a screening programme and I had to wait four months.I explained that I had grade 3 before and I was concerned, I said that diabetics and people with heart disease can have piece of mind by visitng a chemist or by going to their doctors for test why not for cancer?I cried and was in severe pain in the back and the doctor said it was all in my head and sectioned me.I got out a week earlier than planned as I did not make a fuss, I don't need Quentiapine medication and throw this down the sink each night and have been doing so for months, yet pay for the meds to keep the GP's happy.
I can not understand why this has happened to me in the first place and why does no one listen to patients?I am still non the wiser if I have my cancerous cells back.
I have complained to the ombudsman, yet feel that this is a total minefield and they just come back with other names and other addresses of people to contact, to complain to.
I think there is a lot of people out there getting diagnosed as having an MH problem for no reason, to me its big business and maybe they should be investing more in cancer screening in chemists, if they cannot be bothered to look after people who have had severe pre cancer in the past.
I
whydidthishappen? - 28 September 2011 @ 11:43 AM
Answer to question by 'none' - I'm a police inspector and a specialist in mental health issues for the police.
The answer to your question is 'YES', they can be.Whether they will be or not, will depend and each case turns on their merits.It should depend on a balance of many compex factors:how serious is the assault, what is the mental condition of the patient, what is their legal status (I appreciate you've provided this); what is their background in terms of any previous violent behaviour, either in the form of criminal convictions, or previous arrests for violence which were 'diverted' into the MH system as well as any previous potentially unreported behaviour; what is the opinion of the victim of the crime (whether it's a member of NHS staff or another patient) and what is the opinion of hte Responsible Clinician in charge of the care of a patient.
Once all that is known, it is a question of weighing to a conclusion - in general, the more serious the offence, the more 'previous' a patient may have, the more information available that supports a view that depsite their mental illness the patient had sufficient awareness of their actions and the consequences of them, the more likely a prosecution.Obviously, the opposite is true regarding more minor offences, by people without a violent background where MH may well impair the congnition to a degree which impaired their judgement - perhaps because of florid psychosis or the effects of (strong) medication.
It's then a question of balancing the public interest - the Code for Crown Prosecutors does highlight that serious mental illness is a factor against a prosecution.But it also provides examples of factors that may push back against such a presumption and which would mean a prosecution is both possible and desiberable.
It should be borne in mind that only a criminal court can impose an order under Part III of the Mental Health Act (eg, s37 or s37/41) and if it is felt by police / clincians that the best way to balance a patient's need for care and treatment, with the security of the public (which would include NHS staff) then a prosecution may be the only way to achieve this outcome.(There is a 'criminalisation' argument about whether this is the right or wrong way to structure our law, but it is correct as of 2011.)
Hope that helps because it is a complex decision as to whether to do it or not.
mentalhealthcop - 20 September 2011 @ 9:16 PM
Can a patient detained under section 3 of the mental health act 1983 and who assults another person at the hospital where they are being detained, be arrested and charged by the police for the assault they are alleged to have commited?
none - 31 August 2011 @ 1:19 PM
i am a father of a adult who has had problems with mental health and we have tried to contact him for three years through the local mental health and get no where as they say they have a letter staing that he doesnt want to know us but this letter appears to be three + years old at the time he had a mental breakdown
they wont show us proof of the letter so where do we stand as we miss him so much
