Despite the growing amount of data, much information is needed on patients' mental capacity to consent to psychiatric treatment for acute mental disorders. The present study was undertaken to compare differences in capacity to consent to psychiatric treatment in patients treated voluntarily and involuntarily and to investigate the role of psychiatric symptoms, competency, and cognitive functioning in determining voluntariness of hospital admission. Involuntary patients were interviewed with the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T), the 24-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices, and their data were compared with those for age- and sex-matched voluntary patients. Involuntary patients performed worse in all MacCAT-T subscales. Capacity to consent to treatment varied widely within each group. Overall, involuntary patients have worse consent-related mental capacity than those treated voluntarily, despite capacity to consent to treatment showing a significant variability in both groups.
Treatment DMC can be routinely assessed in non-consensual psychiatric settings by the MacCAT-T, as is the case of other clinical variables. Such approach can lead to the identification of patients with high treatment DMC, thus drawing attention to possible dichotomy between legal and clinical status.
Despite the acknowledged influence of cognition on patients' capacity to consent to treatment, the specific neuropsychological domains involved remain elusive, as does the role of executive functions. We investigated possible associations between executive functions and decisional capacity in a sample of acute psychiatric inpatients. Patients were recruited and evaluated through the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T), the 24-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). Patients with poor executive functioning performed worse in MacCAT understanding, appreciation, and expression of a choice, compared with good performers. These findings point to the importance of cognition in decisional capacity processes. In addition, the strong association found between learning abilities and informed consent decision-making provide empirical evidence indicating possible cognitive enhancement strategies that may improve psychiatric patients' competency.
Why do people find conspiracy theories attractive, convincing, or useful? In this article, I analyze conspirituality—that is, the relationships between New Age spirituality and conspiracy theories—in Italy during the COVID-19 lockdown. After distinguishing between conspiracy-believing and belief in conspiracies, I claim that conspiracy-believing could be understood as an aesthetic (sensory and artistic) practice. In doing so, I offer a novel interpretation on conspiracism that complements current scholarship while departing from the latter’s focus on the cognitive and emotional weaknesses of those who adopt conspiracy theories. By engaging with the thought of Jacques Rancière, in conversation with studies on contemporary Paganism and Western esotericism, I consider the adoption of conspiracy theories as an expression of dissensus by a community of sense that does not look only for visibility but, rather, wants to be fully acknowledged, recognized, and legitimized in their “participatory”—or “magical”—way of inhabiting the world.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.