Advance Directives: Law Project for Psychiatric Rights

Law Project for Psychiatric Rights: PsychRights

Advance Directives in Various Countries

Psychiatric Advance Directives can be a very important and effective tool to combat forced drugging and other forced psychiatric "treatment." PsychRights has at least some information on Psychiatric Advance Directives in the following countries:

There is a good discussion of Advance Directives, by the Australian Mental Health Legal Centre and there are a couple of chapters about Psychiatric Advance Directives in the book, Alternatives Beyond Psychiatry (2007, updated ebook-edition 2014): "Upholding psychiatric advance directives: 'The rights of a flea,'" by Laura Ziegler and "Advance directives: A step towards self-help" by Miriam Krücke.

Since 2009, Germany has had progressive legislation safeguarding psychiatric advance directives. People who want to effectively protect themselves legally from violent psychiatric treatment can do this by creating advance directives. In that year, the German guardianship law was reformed and a provision (“Advance directive for health care”, § 1901a) included that an adult considered capable of consent has the right to affirm in writing “independently of the type and stage of an illness” whether he or she “assents or disagrees with treatments, diagnostic procedures or medical interventions that are not immediately at hand at the time of this declaration.” For more information see: Peter Lehmann, “Forced Psychiatric Treatment (and Protection against it) in Germany in 2013”, contribution for “Mad in America – Science, Psychiatry and Community” (webzine of Robert Whitaker), September 7, 2013 – http://www.madinamerica.com/2013/09/forced-psychiatric-treatment-protection-germany-2013/