Written by Muhammad Abu Awad
Sunday, May 14, 2023 02:00 AM
The Psychiatric Patient Care Law stipulates that every psychiatric patient who has reached the age of eighteen has the right to request admission to a mental health facility without the consent of anyone, and he is also entitled to request exit at any time, unless he meets the conditions for compulsory admission, in which case the procedures established in this regard are followed. .
In all cases, the patient’s family shall be notified when he agrees to this, and the responsible psychiatrist or his representative may, based on a reasoned psychological evaluation, prevent the involuntary admission patient from leaving the facility for a period not exceeding seventy-two hours in any of the following two cases:
– If he considers that his exit constitutes a serious possibility of immediate or imminent harm to his safety, health, or life, or to the safety, health, or lives of others.
– If he sees that he is unable to take care of himself because of the type or severity of the mental illness.
In the two aforementioned cases, the doctor may not give the disease any treatment without his consent during that period except for emergency treatment, and he must be subjected to the compulsory entry system in accordance with the provisions of Article (13) of this law, notifying the Regional Council for Mental Health and conducting an independent medical evaluation. The aforementioned period may be extended unless It exceeds a week if the justifications stipulated in the aforementioned article continue and it was not possible to obtain an independent medical evaluation within the first three days of preventing the patient from leaving the facility, provided that the Regional Council for Mental Health is notified of the reasons that led to the extension of detention, and all of this is in the manner decided by the implementing regulations. for this law.
