Experts slam use of drugs to ‘contain’ mentally ill

PEOPLE with mental illnesses who are not improving are being “contained” with medication in mental health facilities which do not provide them with any solution for their condition, mental health lawyers have warned.

Chairman of the Mental Health Lawyers Association, Mark Felton, who represents people involuntarily admitted to psychiatric hospitals, said there is no low-security forensic unit in the country to deal with people in need of specialised care.

Because of this, Mr Felton said, people with a mental illness are languishing in psychiatric units around the country with no therapeutic interventions or options available for moving them on. Many are being involuntarily detained.