Advance Directives: identifying possible barriers in implementation and potential remedies

Advance Directives (AD) are the legal right of every adult individual, who has the mental capacity to decide at the time of making AD, irrespective of one's previous mental illness. AD seem to be an answer for many concerns and make it possible for an individual to take or retain control over one's care by specifying treatment choices, well in advance and by naming someone as a Nominate Representative (NR) to make medical decisions once one is no longer able to do so. It can be expected that many barriers in the implementation of AD will be encountered that cannot be overlooked and active steps need to be taken to explore the possible barriers standing in the way of its effective implementation in our country. In short, it can be concluded that it is a challenging time for the mental health community as we live in a world of scarce workforce and millions of people need mental health services which demands urgent action. Despite the backing of the new law, we are well aware that we have a massive challenge on our hands. Hence, it is essential to accept the crucial role of country leadership in efforts to improve the mental health along with the critical part of civil society, media, and others to account for health outcomes. The purpose of this article is to collect the blinding flashes of insight to begin the prediction of barriers to AD's implementation and possible solutions.