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Ethical Issues in Mental Health pp 103–126Cite as

Autonomy and mental health

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Abstract

Although the individuality of people is clear, independence is a more relative concept. Ideas about autonomy are inherently philosophical, if not even cultural. People are assumed to be self-determining, self-governing individuals. People reason, people choose: these functions set us apart from other animals. Traditionally, this concept has been challenged when applied to people with intellectual impairments or other ‘mental’ disabilities such as the major mental ‘illnesses’. If the person’s reasoning process is impaired, for whatever reason, is autonomy relinquished?

Keywords

  • Mental Health
  • Mental Health Problem
  • Informal Carer
  • Irrational Belief
  • Autonomous Person

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Authors
  1. Jaqueline Atkinson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mental Health Unit, Tayside Health Board, University of Dundee, UK

    Philip J. Barker PhD (Clinical Nurse Consultant, Honorary Lecturer) (Clinical Nurse Consultant, Honorary Lecturer)

  2. Visiting Research Fellow, Polytechnic South West, Plymouth, UK

    Steve Baldwin PhD (Consultant Psychologist, Neighbourhoods Network, TACADE) (Consultant Psychologist, Neighbourhoods Network, TACADE)

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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Atkinson, J. (1991). Autonomy and mental health. In: Barker, P.J., Baldwin, S. (eds) Ethical Issues in Mental Health. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3270-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3270-9_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-412-32950-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-3270-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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