The Mental Health Act was passed in 1983, and whilst it presented a significant moment in how the law treated people with mental health issues, it also had some notable weaknesses. Now, decades later, our understanding of mental health has evolved, and our legal system should follow.
What is the Mental Health Act?
When the Mental Health Act was passed, it aimed to provide a legal framework for how the state would care for and treat people with mental illness. In particular, it is known for granting the power to “section”, or detain people with mental disorders. Patients may be sectioned voluntarily or involuntarily.
Weaknesses of the Mental Health Act
Criticism of the Mental Health Act in its current form includes the vagueness of its language, including the broad definition of mental disorder as “any disorder or disability of the mind”. This means that almost anyone who becomes upset could theoretically be sectioned under the act, not just people who are a threat to themselves or others. Mental health training courses in a variety of subjects from providers like www.tidaltraining.co.uk/mental-health-training-courses are based on more up-to-date research.
Forcibly detaining someone and subjecting them to mandatory treatment is a severe step, and there is a lack of safeguards to protect the rights of patients. In modern psychiatric practice, care in the community is often considered a more appropriate treatment than forced hospitalisation, but hospitalisation is the main focus of the act.
Planned Improvements
Proposals for reforming the Mental Health Act have been developed over several years. They include shorter detention times with quicker review, stricter definitions of mental disorder (specifically excluding people with autism and learning disabilities outside of narrow circumstances), and no detaining of people in police stations. Patients will be more involved in their own care, including nominating their own representative rather than the system defaulting to their next-of-kin.
People with mental illness have often struggled to be treated with respect and compassion. The planned reform to the Mental Health Act will hopefully protect them and lead to a general improvement in society’s attitudes to mental illness.
