Saturday 16 February 2013

Why should mental health law matter to you?

One in three people will suffer from some form of mental illness in their life. 70% will recover whilst the rest will have to fight it for the rest of their life. It does not matter which group you fall into, you will be bound by the mental health laws while you lack capacity.

If you are among the lucky ones who have a nice caring family who all agree with each other and you there should be no problems with the care and treatment while you are in hospital but, what happens if you are incapacitated and there are ongoing family disagreements? Your life is then in the hands of people who don't know a thing about you. How can someone who does not know your likes or dislikes, or more importantly how can they make decisions about your welfare when they know nothing of your views on life, drugs etc.

My sister spent 21 months longer in a secure unit due to just that. She was due for release in Jan 2011 but died in Sept. 2012 still in the hospital. This was due to an old power of attorney that everyone knew had not been fulfilling her duties. She had not seen our sister for more than 7 years yet, she was allowed to make decisions that time and time again were proved to be wrong. No matter how much I tried I could not get anyone to see that this was wrong.

Mid 2012 she was moved to the clinical investigation unit where the doctor there agreed with me that she had been over medicated. So much so that he could not get an aenethsetist to look at her for fear that giving her more drugs would kill her. The same doctor then took her off most of the medication she had been prescribed and said that he noticed no significant change in her mood. In fact she was able to laugh and joke with the nurses, eat and drink unaided. Prior to this she could not tell you her own name. In fact she did not even have the will to sit up of her own accord.

Do you want this to happen to you or someone you love? If not take action now and sign the petition to get the laws changed. Thank you. Stop Over Medicating Mental Health Patients.

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