Critical debate 9.1

Possible answer to: How is it that so many societies, particularly throughout the developed world, have such laws for dealing with mental health? 

Why, in a world where we have international human rights laws, are nation states permitted to authorise the detention and torture of people believed to be ill? 

The text that follows in the chapter addresses these questions, with specific reference to the work of Clive Unsworth on the politics of mental health legislation. Put simply, mental health law details the provisions for compulsorily admitting people to hospital, detaining them there, and their eventual release. There is usually a provision for assessment and/or treatment, including, latterly, treatment in the community. Restrictions on liberty are balanced to some extent by provisions for appeal and a right to independent advocacy for those subject to compulsion.  The consultations and campaigns that led up to the 2007 reforms included efforts by the Mental Health Alliance to argue for a radically different form of mental health law framed primarily by rights rather than powers to compel into treatment.  This did not materialise, but it would be interesting to imagine what services might be like under such a Mental Health Act.