Making Important Decisions: Mental Health Care Directives
Proactive care: Initiating measures to ease patient encounters during psychological emergencies
Berlin - There comes a time when we might find ourselves unable to make clear-headed decisions about our medical treatments, especially during a mental health crisis. Fortunately, a new patient directive designed for these very situations is now available. The German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics, and Neurology (DGPPN) has devised a specialized form to support individuals in expressing their treatment preferences should they lose their ability to make self-determined decisions due to illness or crisis.
Protecting Your Medical Wishes
Prof. Thomas Pollmacher, chair of the DGPPN's Ethics and Law Commission, explains, "Some illnesses can cloud a person's judgement, making them unable to understand the benefits or risks of a particular treatment." During these moments, the person is considered incapable of giving consent for treatment, even if they would have wished for a specific therapy in a healthy state. These situations can be common in mental health crises, where treatments are often refused, even when desperately needed. By writing down your treatment preferences ahead of time with this new form, you can ensure that your desired treatment will still be provided.
Visit the DGPPN's website to access the form and related information. Remember, it's essential to prepare and protect your medical wishes, no matter your pre-existing health conditions.
- In cases of mental health crises when judgment might be impaired, it's beneficial to utilize the new patient directive from the DGPPN, designed for expressing treatment preferences should self-determination become compromised.
- By completing and submitting the form devised by the DGPPN, you can safeguard your medical wishes regarding health-and-wellness and mental-health treatments, ensuring your desired care remains a priority even during periods of illness or crisis.
