Definitions of Mental Illness and Mental Disorder

There are two key definitions that anyone working with the NSW Mental Health Act 2007 should understand:A mentally ill person. A mentally disordered person. These definitions provide the framework for many of the decisions made by mental health professionals. In particular, it is these definitions that determine who can be involuntarily admitted to hospital, and who can be required to comply with a Community Treatment Order (CTO). As with any definition however, elements of interpretation and professional judgement are always involved. Who is mentally ill under the Act? A mentally ill person is someone who is suffering from a mental illness and owing to that illness there are reasonable grounds for believing that care, treatment or control of the person is necessary:for the person's own protection from serious harm, or for the protection of others from serious harm. In considering whether someone is a mentally ill person, their continuing condition, including any likely deterioration in their condition, is to be taken into account. Mental illness for the purposes of the Act means a condition that seriously impairs, either temporarily or permanently, the mental functioning of a person and is characterised by the presence of any one or more of the following symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, serious disorder of thought form, severe disturbance of mood, sustained or repeated irrational behaviour indicating the symptoms mentioned above. This definition is based on symptoms and not on diagnoses. What is serious harm? Serious harm is a broad term that can be best understood in terms of its everyday usage. It can include:physical harm, harm to reputation and relationships, financial harm, self-neglect, neglect of others, e.g. the person's children. A continuing or deteriorating condition? This is a broad and open expression that invites the clinician or decision-maker to consider: a person's clinical history including their degree of insight and their capacity or willingness to follow a voluntary treatment plan the likely impact on the person's prospects for improvement or recovery if there's a failure to comply with a treatment plan." The phrase 'continuing condition' invites the clinician and the decision maker to use an involuntary treatment order to assist a person in avoiding the revolving door syndrome. This can be done by ensuring that the person is admitted when necessary, and receives involuntary treatment for long enough to lessen the risk of an early serious relapse." MHRT Putting it all together! For someone to be a mentally ill person for the purposes of the Act, a number of criteria need to be considered: is there a mental illness as defined in Schedule 1, and is there a risk of serious harm to the person or others, has the person's continuing condition or likelihood of deterioration been considered, and what is the least restrictive environment in which appropriate care, control and treatment can be effectively provided?