Gravely Disabled
A legal-clinical term designating that a person, due to a mental disorder, is unable to provide for their basic personal needs of food, clothing, or shelter.
Full Definition
The term 'gravely disabled' is a statutory designation used in civil commitment law—originating in California's Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act and adopted in various forms across U.S. jurisdictions—to describe an individual who, as a result of a mental disorder, cannot meet their fundamental needs for food, clothing, or shelter. It appears in involuntary hold documentation, conservatorship petitions, and commitment hearing transcripts. Editors should note that the term is always hyphenated when used as a compound modifier before a noun ('gravely-disabled patient') but not when used predicatively ('the patient was found to be gravely disabled'). Its precise legal definition varies by state, and editors must not substitute synonyms such as 'unable to care for themselves.'
Usage
Usage note: Hyphenate as a pre-noun modifier ('gravely-disabled individual'); do not hyphenate predicatively. Do not substitute synonyms — the phrase carries specific statutory meaning.
In Context
- "The 5150 hold was initiated on the basis that the patient was gravely disabled, having been found without shelter or food for five days." — Involuntary Hold Documentation
- "In conservatorship petitions, 'gravely disabled' has a precise statutory definition that must not be paraphrased or replaced by editors." — Legal-Psychiatric Document