Criticism of Hesse's psychiatry reform: trust in doctors is at risk!

Criticism of Hesse's psychiatry reform: trust in doctors is at risk!

In Hesse, fundamental changes to the Mental Health Assistance Act (PsychKHG) are being discussed, which will be examined in more detail at a hearing on September 3rd in Wiesbaden. The Hessian state parliament has already discussed the change in the law in its first reading. The main goal is to improve care and support for people with mental illness while ensuring public safety. But how far should the invasion of patient privacy go? This question arises particularly after the recent acts of violence committed by mentally ill people in Aschaffenburg and Hanau, which the state government uses as justifying causes.

The planned changes stipulate that discharges from psychiatric hospitals will be reported immediately to the responsible regulatory and police authorities if a danger to others was determined during the admission. However, this report will only be made if the risk continues to exist even after dismissal. The decision about this rests with the treating doctors. “There’s something going on,” said health department head Elke Voitl (Greens), who is critical of the planned measures. She described reporting patients to the police as “highly problematic” because it could jeopardize the relationship of trust between doctors and patients.

The criticism and the statistics

Voitl, together with Peter Tinnemann, the head of the health department, expressed concerns about the amendment to the law. Both intend to raise their concerns at the hearing. In particular, the classification of addiction and dependency disorders as mental disorders is viewed as potentially problematic. Christiane Schlang, head of the mental health department, calls for an objective examination of the events and criticizes political activism. She drew attention to worrying statistics: every year there are almost 700 victims of fatal violence in Germany, 411 of them by drowning and 10,300 suicides. Such figures show that violence often occurs outside of the mentally ill population.

A step towards improvement?

In principle, the change in the law should also be seen as an opportunity to strengthen psychiatric care and to provide potentially severely addicted people with help more quickly. The flow of information between specialist psychiatric hospitals and authorities should be improved in order to identify potential dangers at an early stage. This could serve as an effective protective mechanism for society, while also placing the rights and protection of affected patients at the forefront. “We have to have a good knack for finding the balance between safety and therapy,” is how the challenge could be summarized.

Finally, the Frankfurt crisis service is available at 069/611375 and online at kritikendienst-frankfurt.de available to support people who urgently need help. The debate about the Mental Health Assistance Act will play a central role in the Hessian health discourse in the coming weeks.