Responding to the invitation of the Association of Mayors of Finistère (AMF 29) and the psychiatric structures of the department, about sixty elected officials from Finistère met, Wednesday, November 24, at the Agora, to discuss the role of mayors and the procedures to be followed in the management of the mental health of their citizens.
Statutory hospitalization has changed
“This is the first time that we are organizing a morning training session on this topic because many mayors have requested it”, contextualizes Dominique Cap, president of AMF 29 and mayor of Plougastel-Daoulas. It is true that the municipal elections of 2020 have brought many new faces to the town halls. “These new mayors are not necessarily familiar with the procedures related to psychiatric care without consent, when a person has mental disorders that threaten himself or others,” notes Dominique Cap. The mayors can then take, in a very supervised way, what was formerly called “compulsory hospitalization” and which is now called “psychiatric care at the request of the representative of the State (SPDRE)”.
Mayors on the front line
“These SPDREs represent a very small part of the activity of our establishments. Their number is stable and confinement, which has nevertheless had an undeniable effect on the mental health of our fellow citizens, has not increased them, ”analyzes Yann Dubois, the head of public mental health establishments in South Finistère. “This is a highly regulated area because we deprive a person of his freedom, hence the importance of discussing with the mayors, who are on the front line when a crisis situation arises, particularly in small towns”, adds the doctor Philippe Genest, head of department of the psychiatric center of the regional university hospital (CHRU) of Brest.
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