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[The concept of insanity in Danish penal and mental health codes]

Mette Brandt-Christensen1, Aksel Bertelsen

  • 1Psykiatrisk Center Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej 9, Afsnit 6212, 2100 København Ø, Denmark. mettebrandtchristensen@dadlnet.dk

Ugeskrift for Laeger
|May 7, 2010
PubMed

The medical terms insanity and psychosis are used synonymously to describe a condition with substantial changes in the "total" personality and loss of realism. In the 10th revision of the diagnostic classification system ICD-10 (1994) the intention was to replace the term "psychosis" with "psychotic" to indicate the presence of hallucinations and delusions. However, in Danish legislation - most importantly in the penal code and the Mental Health Act - the term "insanity" is still in use. This difference has lead to diagnostic uncertainty, especially in clinical and forensic psychiatric practice.

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