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Redditer: What legally counts as a "mentally disordered person" in Singapore?

Flibbertigibbet

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What legally counts as a "mentally disordered person" in Singapore?​

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DISCLAIMER EDIT: I am by no means trying to devalue or insult the lives of those living with mental disorders. I myself have been living with diagnosed depression, and have been medicated since 2023. I am asking this for my own clarity.

This is with regards to the criterion for filing an Advanced Medical Directive (AMD), which is Singapore's version of a DNR, but can also be applied to other kinds of legal conditions.

The criteria (quoted from MOH) for filing an AMD says:

  • You are not being forced into making the AMD.
  • You are not mentally disordered.
  • You understand the nature and implications of making an AMD.
There is additional criteria about the witnesses for making an AMD, which are: Both witnesses of the AMD must:

  • be above the age of 21;
  • not be a beneficiary under your will or any policy of insurance;
  • not be an immediate family member (i.e. parent, child, adopted child; spouse or sibling);
  • have no interest under any instrument under which you are the donor, settler or gra/ntor (sorry, had to split this word up); not be entitled to an interest in your moneys held the Central Provident Fund or other provident fund on your death; and not have registered an objection under section 10(1) of the Advance Medical Directive Act 1996.
The guidelines are actually pretty straightforward, except for the "mentally disordered" portion, which after some googling I found was not very clear on what it actually entails. The closest legal thing I could find would be the Mental Health Care & Treatment Act (2008), which allows doctors, institutions & government bodies to detain a mentally ill person in a facility for treatment without requiring consent from relatives or the person themself. However from my understanding and personal experience, this is only ever used in more severe cases. I'm assuming that someone who would want to make an AMD would be not as cognitively impaired as someone, for example, who is experiencing a manic episode.

Therefore, what then counts as "mentally disordered"? This can be quite the legal gray area especially if we are talking about things like high functioning autism, mild level anxiety disorders, or persistent depressive disorder (mild, long-term depression). If someone who might have one of the conditions like above, would a doctor/the court be able to legally dispute the AMD? Beyond AMDs, how much legal agency would someone with these sort of conditions have?
 
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