What does it mean to be 'committed' into a hospital?

Question

how does the court of law get involved?

Answer 1

If you are deemed to be a danger to others or yourself and refusing treatment then the doctor can apply to the court to get you commited or sectioned under the mental health act. xx

Answer 2

If you are speaking about a mental health facility in the US it means you have been "Baker Acted". A doctor has instituted the Baker Act to keep you from harming yourself or others due to mental issues. The law requires that the hospital release you within a few days unless they can prove to a judge at a hearing which you should be present at that you are an actual danger to yourself or others. If this is found to be the case, then you will be commited (kept against your will) for treatment for up to 6 months (or less) until a review hearing is held regarding the status of your condition.

Answer 3

If you are in the UK there is no such thing as committed, you can be section under the Mental Health Act (1983). If the police think you are a risk to yourself or others in a public place they can arrest you under section 136 and take you to a place of safety for assessment. Two doctors and an approved social worker can detain you for up to 28 days for assessment under section 2 and if you are thought to be suffering from a mental health problem they can convert this section to a section 3 and force you to have treatment. This lasts up to 6 months, you can appeal against both section 2 and 3 to the hospital managers or request a mental health review tribunal.

Answer 4

It means that a doctor has stated that a person must be detained in a hospital (usually a mental hospital). The patient will then be forced to remain/attenf hospital until the order is revoked. Often this will be against the will of the patient but the doctor will committ him/her anyway for either their own good or the good of the community. The patient has the right to appeal against the decision through the courts.

Answer 5

In the UK we have the Mental Health Act of 1983 which can be used to take people into hospital under Section. The most common Sections used are Section 2 and Section 3.

The Section 2 is an assessment order, the individual will be assessed by a consultant psychiatrist, an approved soial worker and an independant doctor and if it is felt that the inidividual is suffering from a mental illness which in nature and degree of severity is serious enough to require hospital admsission then this can be arranged against their consent for the purpose of further assessment for a period of no more than 28 days.

The Section 3 is a treatment Order. The inidividual can be held in hospital against their will for a period of six months from the beginning of ths section. If a client is previously known to the mental health services and has had previous admissions under section then it would usually be the case that they are admitted under a section 3 for further treatment unless their presentation was significantly different in which case a section 2 may be used for the purposes of reassessment. A section 3 can be reapplied when the six months is complete however the individual under the section can apply for a tribunal for an independant panel to review the need for a further section.

While under sectionthe client can recieve care without their consent, this is most likely to be medication, if the client refuses the medication then it may be necessary for the client to be restrained and to recieve the medication intra-muscularly via injection. There is however a 'three month rule' which means that after three months from the initial date of the first section the team providing care to the client are no loner allowed to give the clientany treatment without their consent, to address this the client must either sign a consent to treatment document or be assessed by an independant consultant psychiatrist who will decide whether further treatment is requied against the client's will and the doctor must specify exactly what this treatment would be.

The police are able to stop someone who is apparent risk to either themselves or others due to their mental state and are able to take them to a designated place of safety under section 136 where a mental health act assessment will take place to decide wheter the person can be discharged from the section or be placed on either a section 2 or 3.

The idea of being 'commited' would most closely be related to the current home office section. If a person commits a criminal act that is deemed to be due to their mental state, for example an act of arson that was related to paranoid delusions of the perpetrator then the home office can decide that the individual be sent to a secure hospital to dispose of their sentence under Section 37/41 of the mental health act 1983. This section is reviewed annually by a panel of psychiatrists but can only be discharged by the home secretary. It is actually indefinite as the home secretary may never feel that the person is safe to be out of a secure hospital due to risk to others due to their mental state.

Answer 6

Usually committed is used when someone is sent to a mental hospital. And If it is from a court judgement the person is remanded to the custody of the Hospital until such time as they are determined to no longer be a threat to themselves or the community at large.

Answer 7

Committed to hospital means that you have either agreed to go or are forced to go. It is usually associated with the Mental Health act and under certain circumstances a person can be sectioned under this act to attend or stay in a mental health institution. The word SECTIONED is meant to refer to a particular section of the act relating to the committal into an institute by this law.
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Answer 8

You can be commited into a hospital, which means admitted against your will if necessary and kept there, sometimes also called being 'sectioned' under a section of the law that is there to protect you and others for your mental halth.

Answer 9

If you are thought to be a danger to yourself or to others you are sectioned under the mental health act, this means that you have to go to hospital and receive treatment until the doctors decide you are well enough not to be a danger to yourself or other people. Two doctors need to sign the paperwork to section you.

Answer 10

a person is committed or sent to a mental hospital by the court when he/she is in danger of hurting themselves or someone else;