Mental Health Law: A Practical Guide

The book provides a detailed and clear examination of hypothetical problem cases and responses, with coverage of all Australian jurisdictions in a mental health tribunal setting. It is filled with case examples and a wealth of practical advice to guide you through many complex legal issues relating to the respective Mental Health Acts, providing clear guidance, useful examples and all you need to know about mental health law in a civil context. It includes voluntary and involuntary patient care, community treatment orders, electroconvulsive therapy, emergency surgery, and appeals from the tribunal to a higher jurisdiction or a court of law. Treatment responses such as the prescription of psychotropic medication for a mental illness are also discussed. Various mental illnesses and disorders are explained using the selected diagnostic categories from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM). There is a brief explanation of how psychiatric disorders were perceived from medieval to modern times.

The author also examines the relationship between the patient, tribunal members, mental health professionals and the legal representative during a tribunal hearing, also explaining the different pathways to achieve safe discharge planning in relation to involuntary treatment, observed from a holistic and person-centred approach.

The book is both a concise handbook and a practical guide to mental health law students, researchers, academics, doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, occupational therapists and all other professionals working in a psychiatric setting. It is unique as it explains the interplay between law and psychiatry while focusing on legal tests such as least restrictive test whilst promoting recovery for the patient to live a meaningful life.

Features

• Providing Guidance at state and territory level on mental health law to approach problem questions which are complex
• Practical angle
• Real-life examples from real cases experienced by the author
• A foreword by the Hon Justice Geoff Lindsay

Related Titles

• Howard and Westmore, Howard & Westmore, Crime and Mental Health Law in New South Wales, 3rd edition
• Johnston, Eagle and Goodhand, Johnston, Eagle & Goodhand, Crime and Mental Health Law in NSW, Supplement to the 3rd edition