It’s really good news that a B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled that our province’s Mental Health Act is unconstitutional. Here’s why: The Act “gave near-total power to a mental health facility to provide treatment for involuntary patients,” writes Michelle Gamage in The Tyee. Lauren Blake, the judge who made the ruling, asserted that “patients have to understand information relevant to their health condition and recommended treatment, understand the risks and benefits of their choices, understand their health condition and the consequences of related choices, and have the ability to express a choice.”

Just because someone qualifies for involuntary status under the Mental Health Act does not mean they are incapable of making decisions about their care, Blake said. …

To be admitted to involuntary detention under the Mental Health Act, a patient must have a mental disorder; must require treatment at a designated facility; must require care to prevent them from getting worse, endangering themselves or others; and cannot be admitted voluntarily. …

For those patients to be able to consent to treatment, they have to understand information relevant to their health condition and recommended treatment, understand the risks and benefits of their choices, understand their health condition and the consequences of related choices, and have the ability to express a choice, she said. …

[Most] experts [the judge consulted] agreed that some people detained involuntarily have the capacity to make treatment decisions based on what treatment worked for them in the past and what side-effects they experienced. …

Jonny Morris, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s B.C. division, applauded [the] ruling. “The decision is saying people shouldn’t lose their dignity, autonomy or right to be heard simply because they’re involuntarily detained,” he said.

This decision clearly says people deserve a meaningful role in making decisions that affect them and that mental health care works much better when people are as involved as possible, he told The Tyee.

Bravo to the judge, who remembered these patients are beings.