Regulating Mental Health: Crossing the Rubicon between Care and Control

Dear Colleagues:

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together the existing and emerging body of research in mental health law, with a key focus on the legislative frameworks currently in place in the author’s given jurisdiction.

In the UK alone, around one adult in six experiences symptoms of mental illness. While in the US, it is estimated that more than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness. This pattern of illness is mirrored around the world. Mental illness is the largest single cause of disability in our society. Given the importance of good mental health the question of how to better assess, manage and support those who suffer remains a constant concern. Mental health services should be sufficiently robust and well-resourced to respond to such needs. Equally, the role of the law and the legislative frameworks regulating the care of the mentally ill and the provision of services must also be effective and fit for purpose. In England and Wales, the Mental Health Act 2007 amended the Mental Health Act 1983, which governs the compulsory hospitalisation and treatment of people with mental disorder; and represented the culmination of a protracted and controversial reform process. This prolonged journey for law reform led to a largely unsatisfactory conclusion, which tested both the political drive for change and the determination of broader lobby groups and activists to achieve what is seen as a more equal, and non-discriminatory governance framework for compulsory mental health care. In 2017, a further independent review was commissioned to review the Mental Health Act 1983 in England and Wales. The following draft Mental Health Bill was published in June 2022 bringing several important changes that strike at the heart of the care versus control debate, both within the hospital environment and the community setting. This messy legislative landscape reflects many of the ongoing tensions within mental health law at large. It echoes many of the conflicts and pressures within mental health frameworks in other countries, some that are going through reform processes, and others that are not.

This milieu of change in mental health, in terms of governance, attitudinal shifts, and a stronger mental health ‘voice’, sets the stage for this Special Issue which will introduce papers that explore a range of issues relating to mental health, the legislative frameworks governing mental health care provision and reform: covering national, European, and international perspectives.

Prof. Dr. Nicola Glover-Thomas
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Laws is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.