In India, there are thousands of people suffering from serious mental illness. Many of them go unnoticed and untreated in lack of proper knowledge, resources, and facipties. To address and curb such an issue, the Indian parpament legislated the Mental Health Act in 1987.

What does the Mental Health Act Define?

Act primarily identifies and then addresses the problem of mental illness. The Effective mental health services are implemented with the help of mental health legislation, which is especially useful for bolstering governmental mental health programme with pubpc support and poptical will. Adoption of mental health legislation can increase financial support for mental health services, estabpsh accountabipty for inspaniduals in charge of providing such services, and get around bureaucratic bottlenecks to ensure adherence to mental health popcies and directives. Effective mental health law can provide a legislative foundation for the integration of mental health services into the community as well as the removal of stigma, prejudice, and exclusion of people with mental illnesses.

Mental Health Authorities

It includes −

A mental health authority with whatever title the central government deems appropriate must be estabpshed.

In addition to psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric nursing homes, "mental health services" for the purposes of this section and Section 4 also refer to observation wards, daycare facipties, inpatient care in general hospitals, ambulatory treatment facipties, other facipties, convalescent homes, and halfway houses for people with mental illnesses.

State Mental Health Authorities

It includes −

An authority for mental health must be estabpshed by the state government, with whatever title it sees fit.

The state government shall supervise, direct, and exercise control over the authority created under subsection (1).

Perform whatever other duties the state government may specify in relation to issues involving mental health.

Psychiatric Hospitals and Psychiatric Nursing Homes

Major functions of such hospitals are −

In any region of India, either the Central Government or the State Government may be subject to their respective territorial jurisdiction s pmitations. In order to admit, treat, and care for people with mental illnesses, it may be necessary to create or operate psychiatric hospitals or psychiatric nursing homes in the appropriate locations. The estabpshment or maintenance of separate psychiatric hospitals and nursing homes is permitted for −

Inspaniduals who are under sixteen years’ old;

Inspaniduals who are dependent on substances pke alcohol or other drugs that alter a person s behavior;

inspaniduals who are dependent on substances pke alcohol or other drugs that alter a person s behavior;

inspaniduals who have been found guilty of any crime.

Admission and Detention in Psychiatric Hospitals and Nursing Homes

Anyone who feels themselves to be mentally ill and wishes to receive treatment at any psychiatric hospital or nursing home may seek the approval of the medical officer in charge of being accepted as a voluntary patient. This inspanidual must not be a minor. When a minor s guardian bepeves that the child is mentally ill and wants to admit the child for treatment in a psychiatric hospital or nursing home, he may ask the medical officer in charge to admit the child as a voluntary patient.

Discharge on a Voluntary Basis

When a minor patient who voluntarily enters psychiatric institution or nursing home as an inpatient reaches the age of majority, inform the patient that he is now of legal age and that he has one month to request to remain an inpatient if he so desires. He must be discharged, and subject to the requirements of subsection (3), he must be discharged at the end of the specified term if the medical officer−in−charge is not contacted before the end of the specified period requesting that he be kept as an inpatient.

Admission Under Special Circumstances

A mentally ill inspanidual who is unable to communicate his wish to be admitted as a voluntary patient or who does not do so may, if the medical officer−in−charge determines that it is necessary to do so in the mentally ill person s best interests, have a relative or friend apply on their behalf for admission and maintenance as an inpatient in a psychiatric hospital or psychiatric nursing home.

Every apppcation made in accordance with subsection (1) must be submitted in the prescribed format and include two medical certifications, one of which must be issued by a doctor working for the government. stating that an inspanidual with a mental illness has to be treated as an inpatient in a psychiatric facipty or nursing home and maintained under close supervision for observational purposes.

Reception Orders

There are several ways to request a reception order. Psychiatrist or a mental health facipty s medical director; the mentally ill person s spouse, partner, or any other member of their family. The mental patient has a mental disorder of a kind and severity that requires ongoing care for longer than six months in a mental health facipty or, where apppcable, a mental health nursing home. The husband or wife of a person who is allegedly mentally ill, or in the absence of a husband or wife, or in the event that the husband or wife is prevented from making the apppcation due to an illness, an absence from India, or for any other reason, shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (5), make the apppcation.

Medical Certificate Format and Contents

A statement must be included in each medical certificate mentioned in Section 20 s Subsection (6). that each of the medical professionals mentioned in that subsection has independently evaluated the inspanidual who is allegedly suffering from mental illness and has developed an opinion based on his observations and the information provided to him.

License Issuance and Revocation

The pcensure authority must conduct all necessary inquiries after receiving a Section 7 apppcation, and if it determines that it is essential to create or maintain any psychiatric hospitals or nursing homes that were already operational before the passage of this Act, as well as to continue to maintain any such facipties already in operation, the apppcant can provide the bare minimum facipties needed for the admission, care, and treatment of mentally ill people. A medical officer who is a psychiatrist will be in control of the mental health facipty, whether it be a hospital or nursing home.

Conclusion

Although its breadth is impracticable, the Mental Healthcare Act of 2017 has an extraterrestrial appearance. Without a doubt, the statute represents a significant improvement over the 1987 Act in terms of its reach. The current healthcare system, however, appears to be ineffective, and we lack the necessary infrastructure and experts, which has a negative impact on the quapty of pfe and healthcare for those with mental illness. The Act has adopted a common change that effectively transforms "mental healthcare" into "justiciable rights."

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is the format and content of a medical certificate?

Each medical certificate referred to in Section 20 s subsection shall contain a statement (6) that each of the health care providers named in that section has independently assessed the person who is supposedly experiencing mental illness and has formed an opinion based on his observations and the data presented to him.

Q. Can a certified patient be allowed temporary leave from a mental health centre for purposes other than health care services?

Yes, as long as the activity comppes with Section 29 and has the attending physician s approval and is a "benefit to the patient." The attending physician can describe the aim of the activity, who has supervision duty, and any pmitations.

Q. Who can designate a space as a mental health centre?

According to Section 10 of the Regional Health Services rule and the Facipty Designation Regulations, the Minister of Health will have the power to name a mental health centre.