Mental Health Law Overview

Mental Health Law

• Purpose: Protect the rights of people with mental health problems, balancing rights and fairness with protection for society.
• Legal vs. Psychiatric Meanings: Legal terms (e.g., mental disorders, insanity) differ from psychiatric terms.
• Criminal vs. Civil Commitment: Canadian law, excluding Quebec, largely draws from English common law. Civil commitment is province-specific, and can be used when an individual is charged with a crime and has a "mental illness". Decisions involve competency to stand trial, and criminal responsibility due to mental disorder.
• Trial and Competency to Stand Trial: Competency requires both physical and mental presence (absence of trial abstentia), and criteria (e.g., Fitness Interview Test-R) focus on the person's mental state at the time of trial.

Criminal Law

• Not Criminally Responsible by Reason of Mental Disorder (NCRMD): Focuses on the accused's mental state during the crime, requiring an assessment of intent ("mens rea") and the criminal act ("actus reus"). Criteria include mental disorder, lack of appreciation of their actions, and lack of appreciation the actions were wrong.

Civil Commitment

• Situation: Individuals needing protection without having committed a crime are subject to civil commitment, based on two concepts: parens patriae (the state acts as a parent for the individual's best interest) and police powers (protecting public).
• Criteria (in British Columbia): Mental illness, need for treatment, need for care/supervision to protect the individual or others, and the need to prevent substantial mental or physical deterioration.
• When Committed: Initiated often by family, with medical assessments (2 physicians with 1-month assessment required in specific circumstances).
• After Civil Commitment: Patients have rights, including notification of those rights, family notification, the ability to appeal, review boards, and right to legal representation.

Violence and Mental Illness

• Relationship: A small percentage (3%) of violent acts are related to mental illness, often strongly linked to substance abuse.
• Prediction of dangerousness: Hard to predict.

Ethical Issues in Professional Psychology

• Informed Consent: Patients need awareness of treatment, assessment process, limits of confidentiality, and potential harm to themselves or others prior to assessment and research.
• Right to Treatment: Treatments must be effective and safe.
• Right to Refuse Treatment: Competent individuals can refuse treatment with involvement of others/consent if necessary, in some cases.
• Limits of Competence: Professionals must practice within their area of knowledge.
• Dual Relationships or Boundary Issues: Therapists should avoid relationships of other kinds with their patients.
• Confidentiality Restrictions: Patient records may be required for court cases or under other, specific circumstances.

Explore the complexities of mental health law, focusing on the rights of individuals with mental health issues and the balance against societal protection. Learn about the differences between legal and psychiatric terminologies, civil and criminal commitment, and the criteria for trial competency in Canada. This quiz will test your knowledge on the key concepts surrounding mental health jurisdiction.