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Examining the legal structure of the mental health system, this book explains the legal principles. It places them in the context of their practical application, the realities of patient life, and the complexities of organising care. This edition gives an analysis of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 and the Draft Mental Health Bill.
This volume developed from and around a series of six lectures sponsored by Rice University and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in the Fall of 1976. Though these lectures on the concepts of mental health, mental illness and personal responsibility, and the social treatment of the mentally ill were given to general audiences in Houston and Galveston, they were revised and expanded to produce six extensive formal essays by Dan Brock, Jules Coleman, Joseph Margolis, Michael Moore, Jerome Neu, and Rolf Sartorius. The five remaining contributions by Daniel Creson, Corinna Delkeskamp, Edmund Erde, James Speer, and Stephen Wear were in various ways engendered by the debates occasioned by the original six lectures. In fact, the majority of the last five contributions emerged from informal dis· cussions occasioned by the original lecture series. The result is an interlocking set of essays that address the law and public policy insofar as they bear on the treatment of the mentally ill, special atten· tion being given to the defmition of mental illness, generally and in the law, to the issues of the bearing of mental incompetence in cases of criminal and civil liability, and to the issue of involuntary commitment for the purpose of treatment or for institutional care. There is as well a critical defense of Thomas Szasz's radical proposal that mental illnesses are best understood as problems in living, not as diseases.
Estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans will experience a mental health problem or will misuse alcohol or drugs in their lifetimes. These disorders are among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they remain barriers to full participation in society in areas as basic as education, housing, and employment. Improving the lives of people with mental health and substance abuse disorders has been a priority in the United States for more than 50 years. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 is considered a major turning point in America's efforts to improve behavioral healthcare. It ushered in an era of optimism and hope and laid the groundwork for the consumer movement and new models of recovery. The consumer movement gave voice to people with mental and substance use disorders and brought their perspectives and experience into national discussions about mental health. However over the same 50-year period, positive change in American public attitudes and beliefs about mental and substance use disorders has lagged behind these advances. Stigma is a complex social phenomenon based on a relationship between an attribute and a stereotype that assigns undesirable labels, qualities, and behaviors to a person with that attribute. Labeled individuals are then socially devalued, which leads to inequality and discrimination. This report contributes to national efforts to understand and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that can lead to stigma and discrimination. Changing stigma in a lasting way will require coordinated efforts, which are based on the best possible evidence, supported at the national level with multiyear funding, and planned and implemented by an effective coalition of representative stakeholders. Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change explores stigma and discrimination faced by individuals with mental or substance use disorders and recommends effective strategies for reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment and other supportive services. It offers a set of conclusions and recommendations about successful stigma change strategies and the research needed to inform and evaluate these efforts in the United States.
This major new work provides a comprehensive account of the law concerning mental health in England and Wales. Written and edited by a leading group of national and international authorities this book presents a detailed examination of the Mental Health Act 1983 and the changes introduced by the new Mental Health Act 2007
Family Guide to Mental Illness and the Law offers the nuts-and-bolts legal information and problem-solving steps families need. This accessible resource explains how common legal issues uniquely impact people with various forms of mental illness and what family members can do to help.
Provides practical solutions for ending coercion in mental health care and realizing the universal right to legal capacity.
Contributors to this volume present and discuss new data which suggest that major mental disorder substantially increases the risk of violent crime. These findings come at a crucial time, since those who suffer from mental disorders are increasingly living in the community, rather than in institutions. The book describes the magnitude and complexity of the problem and offers hope that humane, effective intervention can prevent violent crime being committed by the seriously mentally disordered.
When a person has a heart attack or stroke, the response is immediate: a 911 call, a rush to the hospital, with emergency treatment in the ambulance, and urgent efforts at the hospital to restore the health of the stricken person. In contrast, when someone is dealing with a serious mental illness, attempts to find help are more often than not met with intense frustration and limited success. When seeking an appointment with a psychiatrist, assuming one accepting new patients can be found, the response is often not unlike that associated with scheduling cosmetic surgery: "The first appointment that we have available is not until three weeks from now." The alternative is the local hospital's emergency room, but will there be a doctor there who has an adequate background in psychiatry? And if hospitalization is in fact the answer, is there a bed available at a suitable psychiatric facility? Roughly half of those living with mental illness end up not receiving any treatment at all, and, as a result, may wind up in jail or prison, or dead. The number of persons affected by serious mental illness is not trivial; its prevalence is even greater than many may realize. 1 in 10 people in the United States live with either clinical depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia. That amounts to more than 3,000,000 individuals! There is no question that it is imperative to treat a heart attack or stroke with urgency. But serious mental illness, even schizophrenia, is as treatable as cardiovascular disease; in some cases, such as with bipolar disorder, these illnesses are even more treatable than others that are taken much more seriously by society as a whole. This book examines the many factors that contribute to limited access to treatment of mental illness, and lays out the costs resulting from this lack of access, both human and fiscal. It is a jeremiad of the misconceptions about mental illness and the misguided public policies that contribute to this serious problem. It also provides some suggestions for how to begin solving it. The hope is that it will energize enough readers to do something about this deplorable situation, and to provide them with the wherewithal to accomplish this task.
International human rights law challenges core tenets of mental health law, policy and practice. This book explores this challenge.
"In this in-depth critique of the mental healthcare system, a leading advocate for the mentally ill argues that the system fails to adequately treat the most seriously ill. He proposes major reforms to bring help to schizophrenics, the severely bipolar, and others"--