Lusine Mnatsakanyan (the name is changed) is obliged to pay more than 100,000 dram per month to keep her brother, who has mental problems, at the Yerevan Avan psychiatric hospital. She has been explained that they cannot keep her brother in the hospital at state's cost.

Lusine says she is not the only one that has to pay: in October-November of 2010 dozens of patients were discharged from the hospital due to lack of state funding. Those who could pay kept their patient in the hospital, those who couldn't - took them home.

The administration of the hospital denied the fact that they demand payment from the relatives to treat the patients.

"I don't know, maybe the sister [of the patient] pays some money to the nurses to take better care of the patient, maybe it is possible, but there is no official payment", Samvel Torosyan, the RA chief psychiatrist says.

The chief psychiatrist explained that no patient gets continuous treatment at the hospital at state cost unless there is a court decision that recognizes the patient dangerous for the environment. Usually patients having acute mental problems are brought to the hospital where they get appropriate treatment within 24 days and are discharged.

According to article 21 of the RA Law on Psychiatric Care, the patient is discharged from the psychiatric department of general supervision in case if the patient's recovery and health condition is satisfactory, if there is no more need for further in-patient treatment or terms for research or expertise have finished.

"No one has a right to keep patients, who do not want to be treated, in the psychiatric hospital against their will. They can be hospitalized only by the court decision otherwise the hospital administration could face 4-8 year imprisonment", the RA chief psychiatric says.

According to the same article, the patient can be kept in the hospital only if at that moment he/she constitutes danger for the society. In such a case the administration of the psychiatric institution where the patient is treated, applies to the court to subject the citizen to psychiatric hospital involuntary (compulsory) treatment.

Samvel Torosyan explains that if the patient does not constitute any danger to the environment they cannot keep him more than 24 days since it is the legally defined term when the patient in the acute condition gets treatment and sent home which also solves the problem of patient's reintegration into the society.

That is, the patient, who is not recognized by the court dangerous for the society, but is kept in the hospital more than 24 days, is not treated at state's cost. Our society treats mental patients with certain reservation, and often patients' relatives try to keep them in hospitals even if they are not dangerous for the society. In this case there arises an alternative for both relatives of the patient and the psychiatric hospital: the patient relatives "secure themselves" that the patients feel better being treated in the hospital and the psychiatric hospitals get extra revenues.  

According to the chief psychiatrist, about 46,000 patients with mental problems are registered in the RA with only 1000 of them being treated in psychiatric hospitals. The rest regularly visit hospitals, get their medicine and get treated mainly at home.         

Karine Ionesyan

Source - www.hra.am