IR4 — Rights Of People Receiving Voluntary Inpatient Mental Health Services
February, 1995
All people have certain basic legal rights, including people who have mental illness and people who are in mental health facilities. If you are in a mental health facility because you wanted treatment and signed an agreement to be hospitalized for treatment, you have these special rights:
- The right to ask your treatment team to decide if you need to stay at the facility or if you are ready to leave.
- The right to leave the facility within 96 hours after you sign a written request to leave, unless the hospital files an involuntary commitment application.
Nobody can ask a judge to order you to stay at a facility while you are a voluntary patient, except for two reasons:
- First, the doctor can ask for court-ordered mental health services if he or she thinks you need to be committed. A judge may decide that you need to be committed because you will hurt yourself or others if you are not committed. The judge may also decide that you need to be committed if your doctor believes that you will suffer distress and become unable to take care of yourself if you are not committed.
- Second, the doctor can ask for court-ordered mental health services if you refuse necessary treatment, or if you are not able to agree to treatment and your doctor thinks that you need treatment. The judge may commit you if you are likely to hurt yourself or others if you are not committed. The judge may also commit you if your doctor testifies that he or she believes that you will suffer distress and become unable to take care of yourself if you are not committed.
When the hospital decides you are ready to be discharged, you can decide if you want the staff to tell your family the date of your discharge. If you do, the staff will contact your family. If you do not agree that the staff can tell your family that you are being discharged, they cannot do so.
If you believe one of your rights has been violated, you should contact your treatment team, the facility's Consumer Rights Officer, TDMHMR's Office of Consumer Services and Rights Protection, the Public Responsibility Committee, and/or Advocacy, Incorporated. If you have a complaint of abuse or neglect, call the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services at 1-800-252-5400. For further information, see Advocacy, Inc.'s How To Make A Complaint About Inpatient Mental Health Services.
Advocacy, Incorporated's goal is to make each handout understandable by and useful to the general public. If you have suggestions on how this handout can be improved, please contact Advocacy, Inc. at the address and telephone number shown on Advocacy's home page or e-mail Advocacy, Inc. at infoai@advocacyinc.org. Thank you for your assistance. This handout is available in Braille and/or on audio tape upon request. Advocacy, Inc. strives to update its materials on an annual basis, and this handout is based upon the law at the time it was written. The law changes frequently and is subject to various interpretations by different courts. Future changes in the law may make some information in this handout inaccurate. The handout is not intended to and does not replace an attorney's advice or assistance based on your particular situation.