Taking the shock out of mental health law

Our Prime Minister's just apologised for decades of child abuse in care, but the Mental Health Act allows the same kind of treatment to be dished out to the mentally unwellWork is underway to replace the current Mental Health Act with something more up to date, removing the ability to treat unwell people with electric shock therapy and isolationA mental health boss has labelled the Mental Health Act as out-of-date and inadequate."And if I want to be blunt, it (the Act) supports a system where we effectively criminalise people who are very unwell and then subject them to quite brutal acts because we can't be bothered developing a better response to mental health," CEO of the Mental Health Foundation Shaun Robinson tells The Detail.Those "brutal acts" include electroshock therapy and solitary confinement."Solitary confinement is essentially where someone is put into a bare room with a mattress on the floor and a cardboard toilet, sometimes for up to two days. It's not okay," he says.New Zealanders are now being encouraged to give submissions on a new Mental Health Bill, with the closing date extended until midnight on Friday, December 20th.…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details