ABSTRACT
The ideas in this article originate from my practice as a latvyer representing clients at a large mental health facility. Shirley’s situation stands out in my memory. A hospital social worker contacted me after a family court judge ex pressed concern at an initial apprehension hearing that no one appeared before him on behalf of the mother, that she was currently an involuntary patient in a psychiatric hospital, and that she had been given no notice of the proceeding. The superintendent of family and child services had apprehended the baby girl
from the hospital because of the mother's prolonged, although non-violent and relatively uneventful, mental health history, as well as the numerous bizarre remarks that the woman had made in labour. When Ifirst interviewed my client, this was her first psychiatric hospitalization. It was clear that she was heavily medicated and very sad. About seven weeks after her admission to hospital she was discharged. Over the next eight months Shirley was allowed supervised ac cess visits to her baby, which were observed by those who would eventually be called to give evidence about her capacity as a mother. Her visits with the baby took place through the haze of medication which blurred her vision, made her mouth dry, and rendered her movements stiff. She was told to be spontaneous and demonstrative with the child. Talks with social workers, public health nurses, and psychiatrists strongly suggested to Shirley that her mental health prevented her from being a good mother. Eventually she agreed that she needed to remove herself from her child in the best interests of the child. The case ended with a consent order giving permanent custody to the superintendent so that the child could be adopted. Shirley told me that her own life was over. Less than two weeks after her decision she was again involuntarily committed to a psychiatric ward.
