Section 3

You can be detained under section 3 if:

• You have a mental disorder

• you need to be detained for your own health or safety or for the protection of the other people, and

• treatment can't be given unless you are detained in hospital.

You cannot be sectioned under this section unless the doctors also agree that appropriate treatment is avaliable for you.

You can be detained under section 3 for upto 6 months. The section can be renewed or exteneded by your responsuble clinician:

• for 6 months, the first time

• then for 6 months, the second time

• after that for 12 month periods. There is no limit to the number of times the responsible clinician can renew the section 3.

Your responsible clinician can also discharge you from your section before it comes to an end. If this happens, you are free to go home. If your mental health gets worse again in the future, you could be dectioned and taken to hospital again on a new section.