Section 1

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Application of 'mental disorder'

Section 1 outlines what the Mental Health Act is about. Namely the 'reception, care, and treatment of mentally disordered patients, the management of their property and other related matters'. It introduces some definitions that are used throughout the rest of the Act. Note that these are legal definitions and not clinical ones. One of the difficulties that clinicians and others have to contend with is that whilst these definitions are given in the Act their application is one of personal judgement.

Mental disorder is defined as Mental illness, arrested or incomplete development of the mind, psychopathic disorder or any other disorder or disability of the mind.

Section 1 also gives three more defintions that are used throughout the Act. These are:-

Mental impairment. Or mental handicap as we used to know it. Except the Act includes an extra criteria - it defines it as "a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind (not amounting to severe mental impairment) which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning and is associated with abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct on the part of the person concerned".

Severe mental impairment means arrested or incomplete development of mind that includes severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning. Again there is the criteria of it being associated with abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct on the part of the person concerned.

Psychopathic disorder. Is "a persistent disorder or disability of mind (whether or not including significant impairment of intelligence) which results in abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct on the part of the person concerned".

The term Mental illness is also used in many sections. This is undefined. It is accepted that a diagnosis by a medical practitioner is sufficient. It is used for over 90% of formal admissions.

Mental illness together with mental impairment, severe mental impairment and psychopathic disorder make up what are commonly known as the four categories of mental disorder.

These definitions can have important implications for how the Act is or isn't used. Sometimes a section of the Act is applicable if you are suffering from 'mental disorder'. But for many you have to be suffering from one of the 4 categories listed above. See for example the criteria for section 3 or Guardianship (section7) where you have to be suffering from one of the above 4 categories, and the criteria for section 2 where you have to be suffering from 'mental disorder'. It can be important to distinguish between 'mental illness' and 'mental disorder'.

It could be argued that psychopathic disorder could cover mental impairment and severe mental impairment. Though it also seems the same as mental impairment there are sections of the Act where the difference is important (e.g. section3).

You can be suffering from more than one of these at any one time

Section 1 also states what the Act does not cover: - Unlike previous legislation it states that people cannot be considered to have a mental disorder as described above by reason only of promiscuity or other immoral conduct, sexual deviancy or dependence on alcohol or drugs". But it is important to note that drugs and alcohol can produce symptoms of mental disorder and therefore a person could fall within the meaning of the act. For example if drug use produced a psychosis.

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