under the provisions of s9 of the Act. If the patient is found to be “mentally disordered” during this preliminary assessment they will have to continue with follow up for up to a total of 19 days. Following this period the responsible clinician may apply to the Family Court for a Compulsory Treatment Order under s28 of the Act. These may either be a community treatment order (s29) or an inpatient order (s30). Definition of mental disorder Mental disorder is defined in section 2 of the Act. It is defined as: "an. . . abnormal state of mind (whether of a continuous or an intermittent nature), characterised by delusions, or by disorders of mood or perception or volition or cognition, of such a degree that it - "(a) Poses a serious danger to the health or safety of that person or of others; or "(b) Seriously diminishes the capacity of that person to take care of himself or herself." Mental disorder is not a clinical diagnosis but rather a legal definition. Finding of mental disorder requires the establishment of four elements: an abnormal state of mind; whether the abnormal state of mind is of a continuous or intermittent natures; whether the abnormal state of mind is characterised by delusions or disorders of mood, perception, volition or cognition; the degree of seriousness that represents a danger to self or others or seriously diminishes capacity for self care. Difficulty arises around compulsory treatment as whilst the definition of mental disorder is a legal one, not a medical one, decisions around detaining a patient or enforcing compulsory treatment are made by clinical staff. When a clinician is deciding whether or not to treat someone without their consent their application of the requirements to treat someone compulsorily may vary from their colleagues. Stephanie du Fresne argues “Some clinicians want to see evidence of the psychopathology mentioned in the definition of mental disorder before they conclude mental disorder is present. Others accept that the reference to ‘intermittent’ psychopathology is not present at the s10 assessment but is persuasively described in recent clinical assessments by others”. Abnormal state of mind Whilst section 2 is unclear as to what constitutes an "abnormal state of mind", the courts have found that this is a legal term that "measure the patient's mental state with reference to what is perceived as normal by the community". This definition allows for conditions