Solution
Abr Writing answered on
Apr 11 2020
INVOLUNTARY MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT
Involuntary Mental Health Treatment
(CTOs of Australia)
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Circumstances for forced treatment 3
Laws related to involuntary mental health treatment 3
Ethical considerations related to CTOs 3
Impact of mental health
eakdown 4
Mental health law with respect to consumer and human rights 4
Ethics in Mental Health Law 5
Conclusion 5
Reference List 6
Introduction
A Community Treatment Order (CTO) can be defined as the legal order set by the Mental Health Review Tribunal which sets the terms where a person must accept the therapy, medication, management, counselling, rehabilitation and other type of mental health services while living in the community. As stated by Östman & Björkman, (2015) a compulsory care is authorised by a CTO for a person who is living in the community. If a person does not follow the order of the community treatment then the person can be taken to a mental health facility for giving medication. The duration of CTOs can last up to twelve months and sometimes a person can have more than one CTO session. CTOs can be termed as the involuntary community treatments which are set by the clinicians and tribunals where a person with mental illness must accept the treatments such as therapy and medication while residing in the community. In Australia, the persons who become the subject of CTOs are the person with severe mental illness. As stated by McGurk et al., (2015) a CTO is forced upon the person when that person was admitted to the hospital under the Mental Health Act. It is a kind of supervised treatment given after leaving the hospital and the person should follow the conditions of the CTO to get well. The condition of the CTO prevents the person from harming himself or the other persons near him. In case a person
eaks the conditions of the CTO he will be readmitted to the hospital.
Circumstances for forced treatment
Involuntary mental health treatment is basically a court ordered commitment which is given to a patient of the mental health facility. As stated by Lehman & Dixon, (2016) this order is given to the people who are admitted involuntarily because of mental distu
ance or mental illness. This can be regarded as the detention order. According to this order the person should not leave the facility until permission is given by the doctor and the person should accept the psychiatric treatment given by the doctors. As stated by To
ey et al., (2014) a person is forcefully admitted in the mental facility when a doctor feels that the person can harm himself or the other persons near him. Under the Mental Health and Related Services Act, a person with mental issues should be admitted to the inpatient unit treatment facility which is approved by the government. As stated by Normore et al., (2016) in case of involuntary admissions, the patient will be examined for 24 hours in case of mental illness and for 72 hours in case of mental distu
ance. In case of mental illness, the patient can be held in the facility for 14 days and in case of mental distu
ance a patient can be held in the facility for 7 days.
Laws related to involuntary mental health treatment
The Australian government is responsible for supporting the development, evaluation and implementation of the programs that is needed for the promotion of the mental health practices within the health framework of the population. As stated by Dawson, (2015) according to Section 51 Mental Health Act 2007, a CTO can be replaced by the Magistrate under s33 Mental Health Act 1990. Community treatment orders are implied under Part 3, Chapter 3 of the Mental Health Act of 2007. According to the s 51(1) of the Mental Health Act a CTO is granted by the Mental Health Review Tribunal. According to Chapter 2 Section A, the laws related to the involuntary mental health practices are enforced by the judicial
anch or the Executive
anch of the government. As stated by Szmukler et al., (2014) a person should follow the laws made by the government or strict action will be taken by the government. The parliament is responsible for the Statute law. In Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 of the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights the persons have rights related to involuntary treatment and detention under the NSW Mental Health Act of 2007.
The use of CTOs is increasing in the state and te
itories of Australia because of the several people that are living with issues of mental illnesses. As stated by Dawson et al., (2016) some of the patients do not want to get treatment for their mental health issues and therefore various rules and regulation were made by the Australian government for the protection of the society. A National Mental Health Commission is being established in Australia for getting the annual mental health report of the country. CTOs all over the world are on the rise due to the increase of the mental health issues among the population of the world. The nature of CTOs is still unclear among the people about the effectiveness of the solutions provided by the CTOs. The issues of CTOs are related to the autonomy, paternalism, consent, coercion, beneficence, privacy and confidentiality. CTOs are important as they provide with the necessary treatment which is required for improving the mental health of the person.
Ethical considerations related to CTOs
According to the deinstitutionalization movement of the 1950s, many patients with mental issues were released to the health clinics. The civil commitment laws were made for the people who...