Excluding autism or excluding everything? The problem of broad definitions in the England and Wales Draft Mental Health Bill

Beazley, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8821-1213 (2023) Excluding autism or excluding everything? The problem of broad definitions in the England and Wales Draft Mental Health Bill. BJPsych Bulletin. ISSN 2056-4694

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Abstract

The recent Draft Mental Health Bill for England and Wales proposes changes to the Mental Health Act 1983 which will include, for the first time, a legal definition of autism. This article explores the specific potential issue that the definition, owing to its breadth, potentially encompasses a number of conditions other than autism, consequently leaving the definitionally dependent concept of 'psychiatric disorder' significantly narrowed in scope. The potential implications of this - primarily the concern that a range of other conditions and presentations could be unintentionally excluded from the scope of the civil powers in the Mental Health Act - are discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	autism spectrum disorders,comorbidity,consent and capacity,in-patient treatment,psychiatry and law,psychiatry and mental health,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions,sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2738
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	13 Jun 2023 08:51
Last Modified:	04 Aug 2023 09:31
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92368
DOI:	10.1192/bjb.2023.60

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