[Humanitarian aid to persons with mental disorders]

The role of psychiatrists in the Czechoslovak committee for human rights and humanitarian collaboration has its practical justification. Every year some three thousand applications of different character are addressed to the committee. Ten per cent are formed by mentally altered applicants. Lawyers are unable to evaluate these applications correctly. The task of the psychiatrist is to assess, as far as possible, the clinical diagnosis of the applicant. This is very difficult as the psychiatrist uses as a basis only a written document where he evaluates the contents and the formal aspect. A psychopathological analysis leads frequently to clear diagnostic conclusions. Statistical evaluation reveals that about one third of the applications are submitted by psychopathic personalities, one third is formed by applications of subjects suffering probably from mental disorders or diseases and the last third are paranoid patients. The ethical problem is how to react to the different types of applications. From the legal aspect the committee is not entitled to abuse the confidence of the applicant and even in case of serious mental disease to ask the community psychiatrist for intervention. At present the problem is solved by suggesting to the applicant to attend of his own free will the appropriate psychiatrist. Very frequently it is apparent from the reply that the applicant does not consider this suggestion suitable because he is not aware of his mental disease. In case of paranoid development the position is simplified by the fact that any treatment is without effect.