In The BMJ this week, two experts discuss whether the Assisted Dying Bill, to be debated at the House of Commons next month, would provide adequate protection for vulnerable people from harm. The new Bill, presented by Mr Rob Marris MP, proposes legislation that would allow doctors to help terminally ill and mentally competent adults to die by prescribing drugs that patients would administer th...

LMOST all patients want their family members to make decisions about life-sustaining treatment for them if they become incompetent.1,2 Asking family members to make such decisions is standard clinical practice and has strong ethical justification.3-5 However, dilemmas arise when family members disagree about life-sustaining treatment. In an important, unanimous decision, the California Supreme ...

The practical consequences of deinstitutionalization upon the families of the mentally ill are discussed. Not only is adequate care frequently lacking for the ill family member, but the families of the mentally ill often find themselves alone in their caretaking roles. The growing importance of consumer-advocacy groups may be a harbinger of increasing cooperation among all those concerned with ...

BACKGROUND An instrument was required to quantify and thus potentially measure progress towards a Health of the Nation target, set by the Department of Health, "to improve significantly the health and social functioning of mentally ill people". METHOD A first draft was created in consultation with experts and on the basis of literature review. This version was improved during four stages of t...

Diagnostic characteristics, personality pattern and certain psychosocial variables of 30 married couples where both partners were mentally ill (group A) were compared with the findings with another group of 30 couples where only one partner was psychiatric patient (Group B). Results revealed that couples in the Group A had significantly longer duration of marriage as compared to Group B. Signif...

At this time, when we have still some months to wait for the findings of the Royal Commission, it may be of interest to consider the certification of the lunatic. It is unfortunate that on this point (as on others) there is still a conflict between the ideas of the doctor?interested solely in the ultimate as well as the immediate mental and physical welfare of the patient?and various people int...

While early research focused on the political roots of terrorism, many of today's investigators are probing the psychological factors that drive adherents to commit their deadly deeds. Are terrorists mentally ill or do they rationally weigh the costs and benefits of their actions and conclude that terrorism is profitable? Our author traces recent advances in using imaging and experimental resea...

Appelbaum and Gutheil recently published in the Bulletin an appropriate call for research relevant to issues raised by the dispute over the legal right of committed mental patients to decline treatment. I In support of their call, they described their own limited study of refusers and discussed the right to refuse medication dispute in light of what they regarded as the "clinical realities" of ...