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Wellbeing, schizophrenia and experience machines.
1Manchester Centre for Political Theory, University of Manchester.
Involuntary mental health treatment should extend beyond immediate safety concerns. Expanding eligibility criteria can better address severe conditions like schizophrenia, prioritizing patient well-being over strict danger requirements.
Area of Science:
- Philosophy of Medicine
- Mental Health Law
- Bioethics
Background:
- Current involuntary treatment laws in the US, England, and Wales require a danger to self or others for intervention.
- This standard may exclude individuals suffering significant harm from mental illness, such as schizophrenia, who do not pose an immediate threat.
Purpose of the Study:
- To challenge the necessity of the health or safety constraint for involuntary mental illness treatment.
- To propose an extended eligibility criteria for involuntary treatment based on patient well-being.
Main Methods:
- Philosophical argumentation
- Analysis of legal constraints on involuntary treatment
- Construction of a thought experiment involving Robert Nozick's experience machine
Main Results:
- Schizophrenia can cause substantial harm to an individual's life without posing a danger to themselves or others.
- The ethical reasons for removing someone from a harmful simulated experience (experience machine) are analogous to reasons for providing involuntary treatment for severe mental illness.
Conclusions:
- The current health or safety requirement for involuntary treatment should be rejected.
- Eligibility for involuntary treatment should be broadened to include individuals experiencing significant harm from mental illness, prioritizing their overall well-being.

