Question:
What the are the limits of personal or ethical responsibility
when an individual is suffering from mental illness or addiction?
Answer: The lack of particulars
requires the following parameters and assumptions: I assume the
question refers to the afflicted individual, not to the caregiver; the
broad term “mental illness” includes significant differences, such as
those that exist between, say, being bipolar and suffering from
paranoid schizophrenia; mental illness and addiction can be two
different issues. The addict does not necessarily have a diagnosed
mental illness. These qualifications being made, here are a few
reflections.
The object will be at all times to treat and to cure both addiction and
mental illness. Depending on the circumstances, it would be helpful to
obtain medical diagnosis, either from a physician, or the individual
involved, that we are dealing with real addiction or mental illness.
Amateur judgements may not be accurate. However, with certain
individuals, it will be only too painfully obvious that he/she is
mentally ill or addicted.
Being bipolar or schizophrenic, for example, and depending on the task,
may have definite effects on one’s ability either to perform work
related tasks and/or to being in functional relationships. For safety
reasons, were I hiring a bus driver, I would want to know whether or
not the candidate were taking meds that might affect the ability to
drive safely. Similarly, were I bipolar or schizophrenic, I would hope
that truth-telling would prompt me to share this fact with a loved one
with whom I were in an intimate relationship.
Since this respondent is not a lawyer, I will exclude speculations on
criminal liability, but the defence of “diminished responsibility,”
which is much easier to prove than insanity, has exonerated those
charged with serious crimes such as murder. In these cases, the law
recognizes that personal or ethical responsibility has been impaired by
mental defect.
What is vitally important in cases of either mental illness or
addiction is to prevail upon the individual to seek medical remedies
and to follow the advice of competent physicians or spiritual
counsellors. Failure to do so is a dereliction of duty, which can have
disastrous social or legal consequences. A drunk driver cannot use
alcoholism (addiction) as a legal defence if he kills or maims innocent
bystanders. -
Jack
McLean
