On Being ‘Too Crazy’ to Sign into a Mental Hospital: The Issue of Consent to Psychiatric Hospitalization

Abstract

This article examines the notion of informed consent to psychiatric hospitalization. While dicta in a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Zinermon v. Burch, has stimulated considerable interest in applying informed consent to psychiatric hospitalization decisions, there are no extant cases that define the contours of the doctrine in the hospitalization context. The potential scope of disclosure and the level of decision-making capacity sufficient for valid consent are examined. A model of consent to admission recommended by the American Psychiatric Association Task Force on Consent to Voluntary Hospitalization is critiqued.