I want to thank you so much for your comment, which gets to the heart of the challenges we face communicating critical information about PADs to health care providers in hospitals and mental health centers. Even at Duke, where we conduct a lot of the research on PADs, there are barriers to making sure all providers know about these relatively new legal instruments. In fact, we are currently engaged in a substantial effort to educate providers in North Carolina about PADs, which should decrease chances that other patients experience the same troubles you had. If you are receiving care at Duke (or elsewhere for that matter), then please refer your provider to this website. Or, if you need more specific info, please contact us. Again, thank you for leaving your comment.

One does not need to meet the criteria for civil commitment to have a PAD overridden. PADs and Health Care Proxies are routinely ignored. Patients' Rights are routinely ignored. These violations aren't getting documented in patients records either. Don't forget who is writing the record. Don't forget who is saying whether or not a patient has been informed of their diagnosis or treatment options? The treating psychiatrist and/or treatment team.

When there is a difference of opinion or account of events who is believed? Certainly not the patient regardless of the actual facts. But as to "facts" they are whatever those who have power and authority say they are. It doen't matter that they may be misperceiving event or even outright lying. Whatever they claim become fact merely by virtue of their having made the claim.

Psychiatrists and other mental health workers and advocates make vociforous claims that they are the stigma busters and that it is the public's misperceptions of mental illness which are the problem. Anyone who has taken a good hard look at what has been going on overall knows just how terribly false those claims are.

It has been said that "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." This is most certainly the case in psychiatry.

In a gallop poll, most Americans found politicians to be more trustworthy than psychiatrists. Rather than allowing for the possiblity that the perception might have any merit let alone any merit at all that they were broken out from other parts of the medical profession was the conclusion voiced by the profession.

It is notiable that the profession which is about self awareness and self examination and works to get patients to look at what they do to contribute to problems and perceptions is so grossly lacking in the ability and willingness to apply their much lauded practice to themselves.

It has been said: "Physician heal thyself!"

Those working in the mental health area do not see themselves as being part of or contributing to any of these problems whether individually or on a collective basis. Such things are considered problematic only if the one or those exhibiting that are thought to have, believed to have, or having a record or mental illness.

When learning the oath did a mass misspelling in texbooks and mispronunciations occur which would account for this phenomena? It would be much easier to fix if that were the root cause of the problem.

There are far too many hypocrates passing for hippocrates.