Commentary Part 1 – Amendments to Mental Health Act 1983 Chapter 1 – Changes to Key Provisions Section 1: Removal of categories of mental disorder
15.Section 1 amends the wording of the definition of mental disorder in the 1983 Act from “mental illness, arrested or incomplete development of mind, psychopathic disorder and any other disorder or disability of mind” to “any disorder or disability of the mind”.
16.The fact that a person suffers from a mental disorder does not, of itself, mean that any action can or should be taken in respect of them under the 1983 Act. Action can be taken only where particular circumstances or criteria set out in the 1983 Act apply.
17.Examples of clinically recognised mental disorders include mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety or depression, as well as personality disorders, eating disorders, autistic spectrum disorders and learning disabilities. Disorders or disabilities of the brain are not mental disorders unless (and only to the extent that) they give rise to a disability or disorder of the mind as well.
18.The section also abolishes the four categories of mental disorder used in the 1983 Act at the moment, namely mental illness, mental impairment, psychopathic disorder and severe mental impairment.