Mental Health
9. Advance Directives
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 14 Aug 2015
- It can be helpful for a person with mental illness to plan for the future and formally record instructions about the management of certain aspects of their lives. This is particularly the case if you have a mental illness that requires ongoing management or if you know that you are likely to have challenging times ahead. Making plans can give you the control you need to confidently manage your illness and your personal affairs. These are sometimes called advance directives or advance statements. These are legal documents that outline your preferences in the event that you need to take time out from your day-to-day life for treatment.
- A lawyer can help you prepare and write an advance directive. You will need to sign the document and have it witnessed. Instructions in your advance directive might include arrangements for looking after your children, which medications you want to avoid or instructions on how to manage your property if you are away. In this chapter we have provided some examples of what you might include in your advance directive.
- Example 1: Care of Children
- "If I become unwell in the future and need to undergo intensive treatment or hospitalisation I would like my sister Jenny to be contacted to look after my children. I have provided Jenny’s contact details to my children’s’ school and if I am unable to pick them up at the end of the school day she is to be contacted immediately."
- Example 2: Medical Treatment
- "I understand that I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I also understand that this means that I may not always be able to make my own decisions about what medications I am put on. If this is the case I trust my treating team to make these decisions for me but I do not want to be put on lithium unless it is absolutely necessary. I have had serious side effects from lithium in the past and would like my treating team to put me on an alternative drug."
- Example 3: Property Management
- "If I am hospitalised in the future I am leaving these instructions for my neighbour Joan so she can look after my house. The spare house-key is kept under the blue flowerpot in the front yard. Joan please collect my mail every Friday and leave it on the kitchen bench inside the house. Any letters that look like bills or invoices please send to my mother Carol (I have included her address at the end of this document). Please also make sure the security alarm is on before you leave the house and all the windows and doors are locked. Also my brother Jonas visits every fortnight to mow my lawns. Joan please tell him that I am away but I would still like the lawns cut as usual."
- Advance directives can give you peace of mind and help manage stressful times in your life. It can also be comforting to be in control of aspects of your everyday life while dealing with the ups and downs that come with mental illness.
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