Rights of Patients in Mental Hospitals

Most states have various advocacy groups that are responsible for helping patients protect their rights. According to the Health Care Agency Behavioral Health Services, the responsibility of advocacy groups is to investigate and resolve complaints from patients regarding abuse of their rights and other violations.

Involuntary Treatment

• Mental health patients have the legal right to refuse or not consent to a treatment. There are circumstances in which a person is required to receive treatment involuntarily. In this case, the person must be considered a danger to himself or others.

Privacy

• Patients in mental hospitals also have a right to their privacy. Anything that they discuss with mental health providers must be kept confidential. This means it cannot be disclosed to anyone, including a person's family members.

Discrimination

• According to the National Mental Health Information Center, the Americans with Disabilities Act ensures that people with a severe mental illness have legal protection against discrimination in the workplace and residential settings. This includes treatment facilities such as hospitals.

Considerations

• Most mental health-care facilities have a patient bill of rights by which the staff abides. For example, one right might ensure that patients are always treated with respect and dignity.

Significance

• In February 2009, The University of Melbourne in Australia developed an international observatory to improve global mental-health-patient rights. The university's goal was to eradicate human rights abuses against those suffering from mental illness in second- and third-world countries.