This article describes the recent law reform on forensic mental health and its background in Japan, focusing on the enactment of the Medical Treatment and Supervision Act in 2005. The new system-under which a person who commits a serious criminal offence in a state of insanity or diminished responsibility shall be referred by the public prosecutor to the District Court-aims to provide intensive psychiatric treatment to offenders with mental disorders, attaching great importance to their reintegration into society. The court panel, which consists of a judge and a specially qualified psychiatrist, plays a key role in the treatment procedure. Upon the agreement of the two panel members, the panel delivers a verdict that takes into account the outcome of psychiatric evaluation; possible verdicts are inpatient treatment order, outpatient treatment order (mental health supervision), and no treatment order. Designated facilities are currently being established for inpatient and outpatient treatment. Referring to the published data on outcomes of enforcement, this article discusses particularities, current problems, and future prospects of the system, drawing comparisons between the German and Japanese systems.
We made an attempt to express a complaint of sleep disturbance by a self‐rating scale of radar chart mode. The questionnaire for sleep disturbance is made up of eight items. Each item was scored from grade 1 to 4. The score of each item was projected to the MY radar chart, designed by us. It is noted that this method is useful in following the effect of hypnotics on sleep disturbance.
We made an attempt to compare the complaints about sleep disturbance in the elderly based on the questionnaires using self-rating scales carried out in 1983 and 1996. It was noted that the score of awakening frequency from the course of sleep was the highest of all the items in men and women in both the 1983 and 1996 inquiries. The scores of insomnia nights per week and the difficulty in falling asleep were slightly higher in women than in men in both inquiries.
In Japan, there are 531 special wards for the treatment of dementia in which patients with behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia are treated. In these wards, 85% of the patients stay for more than 91 days, and 45% of them are judged as ready to discharge. The function of the wards declines as a result of the long-stay patients. It is necessary to create two types of wards: one for acute treatment of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia within 90 days and another for patients requiring longer-term treatment (i.e. more than 91 days) for chronic behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, deterioration of activity of daily living and somatic complications
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