Commitment Procedures, Right to Treatment, and Right to Refuse Treatment

Abstract

To begin with we shall consider the procedures for involuntary civil commitment, the right to treatment, and the recent developments in the right to refuse treatment. When we try to compare the progress of mental health services on the international plane, we must acknowledge that from country to country there is a great difference in ideas. Some countries have no mental health laws. Some countries have poor or insufficient health insurance systems. Therefore, in some countries it is difficult for the mentally ill to be hospitalized in mental institutions. As a first premise, when we discuss the issue of involuntary civil commitment, we must consider that there is not only socio-cultural, religious, and value differences but also that there are also different backgrounds concerning budgets, insurance policies, and mental health delivery systems.