The Rights of
Mental Patients (An ACLU Handbook) While this book is out-of-print, it is available through the used book search area of the related online bookstore. From Back Cover What should you do if someone tries to take you to a mental hospital against your will? Can a mental patient refuse shock therapy treatments? Can ex-patients prevent disclosure of their hospitalization? Since one out of every ten Americans will be hospitalized at some point in their life for "mental illness", this guide to the rights of mental patients is an invaluable aid. The authors carefully point out the pressures that can be brought to bear against patients, the unreliability of psychiatric evaluations, the vagueness in existing laws that allows many patients to be unjustly committed, and the legal procedures available to patients to defeat commitment procedures. Mr. Ennis and Mr. Emery provide a detailed presentation of the patient's rights once he is hospitalized, of the legal procedures that he can utilize for his release, and of his rights upon discharge from the hospital. An additional chapter discusses trial techniques proven effective in defending prospective patients in court actions. One of a series of ACLU handbooks dealing with the rights of people.
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