Slovenian Mental Health Act

Background: Diminished or even absent awareness of illness is a frequent feature of mental disorders, mostly those with psychotic symptoms. That is why efficient treatment sometimes calls for certain interventions even without the patient's consent; for such cases a legal regulation must be provided. Ideally, such a regulation should carefully balance the protection of human rights against the feasibility of efficient treatment. Conclusions: Implementation of the new Slovenian Mental Health Act started in August 2009. The article deals with concrete examples of how this act renders treatment of certain patients with mental disorders difficult or even impossible. In many cases, even patients who consent to treatment are deprived of appropriate health care by the Act.