Doing away with pre-Independence direct electro-convulsive therapy (ECT), also known as electroshock, used to treat mentally ill patients, the right of mentally-ill patients to decide their mode of treatment and decriminalising suicide for them are some of the progressive provisions of the new Mental Health Care Bill proposed by the government, which is expected to be introduced in this session of Parliament.
Once passed by Parliament, the bill will repeal the existing Mental Health Act, 1987. The draft bill proposes mental healthcare services affordable, of good quality and available without discrimination.
The Cabinet had in June approved the draft bill that defines mental illness in accordance with international standards. The draft bill describes the right of a mentally ill person for protection from cruelty, legal aid, information, mental healthcare and right to equality and non-discrimination.
The proposed bill is an attempt to bring a legal framework to deal with mentally ill patients. An estimated 10-12 million of the population suffer from severe mental disorders and around 50 million suffer from common mental disorders like depression.
According to the proposed bill, any person that attempts suicide would be presumed to be mentally unwell unless proved otherwise. The bill, therefore, decriminalises suicide for mentally-ill patients. Under the Indian Penal Code, suicide is a criminal act that attracts sentence for at least one-three years.
As per the proposed bill, a person can give advance directive on the treatment that he/she would like to undergo in an event of mental health situation. The draft bill lays down that any treatment or rehabilitation of mental health patients needs consent of that person, taken after full information has been given on his/her condition, the options available and prognosis. However, in cases where the person is unable to do so, the onus will be with the state authority. It also says that long-term care in mental health institute is to be used only in exceptional cases.
Keeping in view that a person may be declared mentally ill by family members due to property or marital disputes, the proposed bill gives states that a person can give an advance directive to the state that he/she should not admitted to a facility without consent.
The proposed legislation bans ECT without anaesthesia and restricts psychosurgery. With an aim to address the needs of the families and homeless mentally-ill people, the new legislation provides setting up Central and state mental health authorities. The proposed bill says that all mental health establishments, personnel and those treating patients with traditional methods of medicines will have to be registered with the Central mental health authority or with the state authority.