Bloom J D, Williams M H
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland 97201.
Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1994 May;45(5):466-70. doi: 10.1176/ps.45.5.466.
Legislatures, professional groups, and mental health consumers across the United States are currently engaged in a debate about the need for change in civil commitment procedures. The authors summarize modifications of legislation and judicial opinion in the history of Oregon's civil commitment procedures from 1853 to the present to show that changes in civil commitment reflect broader shifts in the social and political aspects of the mental health system. Many current issues in civil commitment, such as the question of a patient's competency to make treatment decisions, are not new, and they are likely to continue to be controversial as mental health systems attempt to balance concerns about the liberty interests of mentally ill persons with concerns about providing appropriate treatment for mental illness.
美国各地的立法机构、专业团体和精神健康消费者目前正在就民事强制住院程序变革的必要性展开辩论。作者总结了俄勒冈州自1853年至今民事强制住院程序历史上的立法和司法意见修改情况，以表明民事强制住院程序的变化反映了精神健康系统社会和政治层面更广泛的转变。民事强制住院方面当前的许多问题，比如患者做出治疗决定的能力问题，并非新问题，而且随着精神健康系统试图在关注精神病患者的自由权益与关注为精神疾病提供适当治疗之间取得平衡，这些问题可能会继续引发争议。
