Swine flu prompts changes to Mental Health Act

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Swine flu prompts changes to Mental Health Act
http://www.managementinpractice.com/def ... e.id=18628

23 Sep 2009 (UK)
The government plans to rush through measures allowing people with suspected mental health issues to be quickly detained because of fears over staff shortages in any forthcoming swine flu outbreak, it has been revealed. The temporary changes to the Mental Health Act, as laid out in an unusually short consultation lasting just one month, would mean it would only take one doctor, rather than two, to have a person sectioned and put on medication without their consent.

It's a bunch of little laws like that which make me glad I don't live in England.

What would stop the US, Australia, Canada and everyone else from going the same way?

Mental health laws in the US are administered at the state level. Even in California, a state that is quick to trample on personal liberties, any psychiatrist, psychologist, any advanced practice psychiatric nurse, any cop, and I think any social worker can have someone committed for a 72 hour evaluation. Then, it requires a psychiatrist and a psychologist to petition a judge to commit someone after that for up to 2 weeks if they want to keep them longer than 72 hours, and the psychiatrist and psychologist have to agree again if they want to keep them up to another 2 weeks or up to a month depending in what they petition the judge for. They cannot be forcibly medicated in the US without a seperate court hearing to determine whether you are competent to make your own medical decisions or not. The way it works now. Little would change in California even if such laws passed. Since mental health professionals don't treat swine flu, there wouldn't be any new additional demand on their services.

What are you, an aspie?
You are clouding the issue with logic and facts.
We got a live on here -- call the guys with the butterfly nets.

The way things are going, that kind of talk, in itself, will soon be a capital offense.
The US govt hasn't worked that way in a long time. If it ever really did.

I think that the changes suggested in the UK are deeply wrong, the idea of getting two doctors to consent is better than one only. It is an attempt to guard against abuses, while it might not be perfect I consider that in the inperfect world we live in we should struggle to make it is better place and resist any attempt to make the world a worse place.

I suspect that even if the doomsday swine flu appears that it will be still possible to find two or more doctors to examine a person.

that's not good. MH provision is already a mess over here but this is not good.

I think they are the ones that need medication. Sick people, causing all this trouble over the "swine flu", which has been shown to be less deadly than the seasonal flu as it is. Crazy! Then again, money makes people do crazy things.

its supposed to be a temporary change only. If you read the proposals, they i think they mention the need to roll back the changes as soon as staffing levels return to normal. This does set a precedent so i can see how it is worrying, however this could also be a very useful measure. For instance if a family member or neighbour went crazy & you were seriously concerned for their or your safety, you might not appreciate having to deal with them for ages whilst waiting for 2 doctors to become available.

Since I’m active/physically active, and have no breathing problems/astma/stress level/, I will not get affected by the swine flu.