What is a mental health Form 1?
If your name’s on a Form 1, it means the doctor who signed the form thinks you should go to a and be assessed by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist then decides if you need to stay in a psychiatric facility to be treated for a .
The doctor who signs the Form 1 doesn’t have to be a psychiatrist. But they can only sign it if they’ve examined you within the past 7 days.
The signed Form 1 gives anyone the right to take you to a psychiatric facility immediately, even if you don’t want to go. The doctor may ask the police or a family member to take you.
A doctor in a hospital emergency department can also sign a Form 1 if they believe you should be assessed by a doctor at a psychiatric facility.
At the psychiatric facility
Once you’re at the psychiatric facility, a staff member must give you a document that explains why the doctor who signed the Form 1 thinks you need to be in the facility.
You have to stay in the psychiatric facility until the facility doctor assesses you. They can keep you there for up to 72 hours to do this.
You cannot appeal or challenge a Form 1 during those 72 hours. But you have the right to speak to a lawyer.
The doctor at the psychiatric facility cannot be the same doctor who signed the Form 1. They must also start assessing you as soon as they can.
After you’re assessed
After you’re assessed, the doctor at the psychiatric facility can do one of the following:
- Let you leave the facility.
- Let you stay in the facility if they think it would help you and you want to stay. This is called “voluntary admission”.
- Make you stay for up to 2 weeks in the facility even if you don’t want to stay. This is called “involuntary admission”. See Step #4 for more details.
