The document outlines the rights of mentally ill patients, including the right to communicate with outside parties, keep personal effects, enter into contracts, receive an education, file a habeas corpus, have privacy and confidentiality, provide informed consent, receive treatment, refuse treatment in the least restrictive setting, practice religious freedom, and marry or divorce. Key rights include privacy and confidentiality of medical information, informed consent for treatment, the right to adequate treatment, and the right to refuse treatment or be treated in the least restrictive environment.

1. RIGHTS OF MENTALLY ILL
PATIENTS

2. INTRODUCTION:
• In 1973American Hospital Association (AHA)
issued a Patient’s Bill of Rights that many
hospitals and community-based settings have
adopted.

3. Right to communicate with people
outside the hospital
• This right allows patient to visit and hold telephone
conversations in privacy and send unopened letters to
anyone of their choice, including judges, lawyers,
families and staff. Although the patient has the right to
communicate in an uncensored manner, the staff may
limit access to the telephones or visitors when it could
harm the patient or be a source of harassment for the
staff.

4. Right to keep personal effects
• The patient may bring clothing or personal items
to the hospital taking into consideration the
amount of storage space available. The hospital
staffs are not responsible for their safety, and
valuable items should left at home.

5. Right to enter into contractual
relationships:
• The court considers the contract valid if the
person understands the circumstances of the
contract and its consequences.
• INCOMPETENCY: Mental incompetency is the
issue related to this right.To prove a person
mentally incompetent requires a special court
hearing. Incompetence is a legal term without a
precise medical meaning.

6. To prove incompetence, all the following must be
shown:
• The person has a mental disorder.
• This disorder causes a defect in judgement.
• This defect makes the person incapable of handling
personal affairs.

7. Contd……
• If a person is declared incompetent, the court will
appoint a legal guardian to manage affairs.This
often is a family member, friend, or bank
executive. If ruled incompetent, a person cannot
vote, marry, drive, or make contracts.

8. Right to education
• Many parents exercise the right to education on
behalf of their emotionally ill or mentally retarded
children.The U.S. Constitution guarantees this
right to everyone.

9. Right to Habeas Corpus
• This is an important right patients retain even if
they have been involuntarily hospitalized. It
provides for the speedy release of any person who
claims to be detained illegally.

10. Right to privacy
• The right to privacy implies the person’s right to keep some
personal information completely secret or confidential.
• Confidentiality involves the nondisclosure of specific
information about a person to someone else unless
authorized by the person. Every psychiatric professional is
responsible for protecting a patient’s right to confidentiality,
including even the knowledge that a person is in treatment
or in a hospital.Confidentiality builds on the element of trust
necessary in the patient-clinician relationship.

11. •Clark D. conducted a study on “Examining
HIPAA's (Health insurance portability and
accountability Act) disclosure exceptions” and
stated that HIPAA was enacted to protect the
rights and privacy of patients. However,
healthcare providers should be aware that there
are disclosure exceptions without first obtaining
the patient's permission.

12. Right to informed consent:
• The goal of informed consent is to help patient
make better decisions. Informed consent means
that a clinician must give the patient a certain
amount of information about the proposed
treatment and must obtain the patient’s consent,
which must be informed, competent and
voluntary.The clinician should explain the
treatment and possible complications and risks.

13. Informed consent should be obtained for all
the psychiatric treatments, including
medication, particularly antipsychotics;
somatic therapies, such as electroconvulsive
therapy (ECT); and experimental
treatments.

14. Right to treatment:
• It is an important right which must be preserved by a
health care personnel.There are some criteria for
adequate treatment:
• A humane psychological and physical environment.
• A qualified staff with a sufficient number of members
to administer adequate treatment.
• Individualized treatment plans.

15. Right to refuse treatment
• The right to refuse treatment includes the right
to refuse involuntary hospitalization. It has been
called the right to left alone. Some people believe
that therapy can control a person’s mind, regulate
thoughts, and change personality, and the right to
refuse treatment protects the patient.

16. Right to treatment in least
restrictive settings:
• The goal of this right is to evaluate the need of
each patient and maintaining the greatest amount
of personal freedom, autonomy, dignity, and
integrity in determining treatment.The right
applies for both hospital based and community
programs. It requires that a patient’s progress be
carefully monitored so that treatment plans are
changed based on patient’s current condition.

17. Right to religious freedom:
• According to this right patient is free to carry out
his/her religious and spiritual activities as far it
does not cause any harm to others.

18. Right to marry or divorce:
• A person can marry or divorce unless he/she is
declared incompetent by the court or legislature.