Nigel Turner's HyperGUIDE to the Mental Health Act

Scope and Definitions

Beginning at the beginning:- Section 1 of the Mental Health Act explains what the Act is about and who it is intended to deal with.

Scope

The Mental Health Act itself states that it deals with:
the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered patients, the management of their property and other related matters.

Definitions

Section 1 attempts to provide a legal [rather than a medical] definition of the types of mental health problems the Mental Health Act is intended to cover. It gives a definition of Mental Disorder, which - for the purposes of the Act - is then split into 4 types: Severe Mental Impairment, Mental Impairment, Psychopathic Disorder, and Mental Illness. The definitions are to some extent circular and incomplete.

Mental Disorder means...
... mental illness, arrested or incomplete development of mind, psychopathic disorder and any other disorder or disability of mind.
The 4 sub-categories of Mental Disorder are then defined. These definitions are reproduced below, with emphasis on certain differences between the definitions:
Severe Mental Impairment...
... means a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning and is associated with abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct on the part of the person concerned
Mental Impairment...
... means a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind (not amounting to severe mental impairment) which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning and is associated with abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct on the part of the person concerned
Psychopathic Disorder...
... means a persistent disorder or disability of mind (whether or not including significant impairment of intelligence) which results in abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct on the part of the person concerned
Mental Illness...
... is not defined. This missing definition is especially odd, in that this is the most common form of Mental Disorder for which people are dealt with under the Act. While no legal definition exists, a number of attempts to define Mental Illness have been made.

Use of the Definitions other than Mental Illness

In broad terms, Severe Mental Impairment and Mental Impairment relate to people with learning disabilities (mental handicap) but only where this is "associated" with abnormally aggressive or seriously irresponsible conduct. Psychopathic Disorder is a definition which might be used in relation to people with learning disabilities, but can apply to others. The usefulness or otherwise of this definition is the subject of some controversy.

Importance of the Definitions

While the definitions are legal constructs, the type of Mental Disorder attributed to a particular person is a matter for a doctor's clinical judgement. The type used is significant in a number of ways, for example:

What it's Not

The Act states very clearly that people must not be deemed to have a form of Mental Disorder "by reason only of promiscuity or other immoral conduct, sexual deviancy or dependence on alcohol or drugs". Given that in the past, people have been brought into the psychiatric system because, for example, they have had a child outside marriage, or they engaged in certain sexual practices, this statement in the 1983 Act is an important safeguard against further abuses of this sort.

Use of alcohol and other substances might sometimes cause a Mental Disorder which is within the scope of the Act, but use of these substances in itself cannot be within the scope of the Act.

Overview page. Contents page. Introduction page.
Copyright © Nigel Turner 1996
This page last revised 8 April 1996
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of information in these pages, they are not intended to be relied upon as an authoritative statement of the law. The author cannot accept liability for errors or omissions.