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Section 3 - Mental Healthcare Act, 2017
CHAPTER II
MENTAL ILLNESS AND CAPACITY TO MAKE MENTAL HEALTHCARE AND TREATMENT DECISIONS
3. Determination of mental illness.-
(1) Mental illness shall be determined in accordance with such nationally or internationally accepted medical standards (including the latest edition of the International Classification of Disease of the World Health Organisation) as may be notified by the Central Government.
(2) No person or authority shall classify a person as a person with mental illness, except for purposes directly relating to the treatment of the mental illness or in other matters as covered under this Act or any other law for the time being in force.
(3) Mental illness of a person shall not be determined on the basis of,-
(a) political, economic or social status or membership of a cultural, racial or religious group, or for any other reason not directly relevant to mental health status of the person;
(b) non-conformity with moral, social, cultural, work or political values or religious beliefs prevailing in a person's community.
(4) Past treatment or hospitalisation in a mental health establishment though relevant, shall not by itself justify any present or future determination of the person's mental illness.
(5) The determination of a person's mental illness shall alone not imply or be taken to mean that the person is of unsound mind unless he has been declared as such by a competent court.
Related Sections
- Section 46: Composition of State Authority
- Section 58: Central Mental Health Authority Fund
- Section 8: Revocation, amendment or cancellation of advance directive
- Section 89: Admission and treatment of persons with mental illness, with high support needs, in mental health establishment, up to thirty days (supported admission)
- Section 30: Creating awareness about mental health and illness and reducing stigma associated with mental illness
Related Acts
- Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Act, 2023
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Act, 2019
- Code of Criminal Procedure Act, 1973
- Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2019
- Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018