Last week the topic of a psychiatric advance directive, or PAD, came up in the Wall Street Journal in an article entitled, Helping Mental Patients Gain Some Control Over Treatment. A psychiatric advance directive allows a person with a mental illness to state preferences for, or dislikes of, specific treatments, designate a proxy decision-maker or make other advance decisions about their mental health care and treatment. For instance, if you know you have a bad reaction to Haldol, but may not be believed when you’re in a manic or delusional state, a psychiatric advance directive helps communicate that vital information to a treatment team.

Why wouldn’t a doc just consult your medical chart for such information? Well, largely because charts are still paper and institutional or physician-based. In other words, the chart that has vital information about you may not be available to another treatment team during a crisis situation (even in the same institution or hospital). The psychiatric advance directive (PAD), while not commonplace, is one possible option to consider if you’ve ever experience a psychiatric treatment episode that was not to your liking or wishes. You have patient rights no matter whether you had a PAD or not — so know them and assert them when you need to.

Learn more about a psychiatric advance directive here. Keep in mind, however, that state laws vary, so check with your own attorney or your state’s attorney general’s office for clarification and advice.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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mental health » Blog Archive » Learning About Psychiatric Advance Directives (12/1/2007)

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 1 Dec 2007
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