You are 15, or 16, or 17. A psychiatrist has prescribed something, your parent has agreed, and you have not. Here is what California's statutes actually say about whose decision it is — which is less than people assume in one direction, and more than people assume in another.
The short answer: at home and in an outpatient clinic, the statute puts the consent in your parent's hands, not yours. The same law that lets you consent to therapy at 12 says in terms that it "does not authorize a minor to receive convulsive therapy or psychosurgery … or psychotropic drugs without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian."¹ Nothing in that section, or in its twin in the Health and Safety Code,² gives a minor a right to refuse what a parent has consented to. That changes the moment you are a patient in a psychiatric facility — voluntary or on a hold. There, a list of rights attaches to you personally, and the statute says those rights "may not be waived by the person's parent, guardian, or conservator."³ The right to refuse antipsychotic medication, specifically, is written for people detained under the adult Act's hold sections — how it reaches a held minor is explained below — and refusing triggers a capacity hearing, not an override.⁴ ⁵ And on your 18th birthday the parental consent authority ends, because "a minor is an individual who is under 18 years of age."⁶
At home: what the consent statutes do and do not say
California has two minor-consent statutes for outpatient mental health care, and both draw the same line. Family Code §6924 lets a minor of 12 or older consent to outpatient treatment or counselling if mature enough to participate intelligently — and then, in subdivision (f): "This section does not authorize a minor to receive convulsive therapy or psychosurgery as defined in subdivisions (f) and (g) of Section 5325 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or psychotropic drugs without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian."¹ Health and Safety Code §124260(e) says the same in nearly the same words.²
Read that carefully for what it is and what it is not. It is a limit on the minor's own power to consent: you cannot put yourself on an antidepressant without a parent. It is not a grant of any power to the minor to refuse. The statutes name the parent as the consenting party for psychotropic drugs and name no age below 18 at which the minor's objection becomes decisive.
What the statutes also do not do is give anyone the power to make you swallow a pill. Neither consent statute, nor any section we cite, authorises physical force in a family home, and this page will not invent one. The practical position is that a prescriber writes for a patient whose parent has consented; whether the patient takes it is not something the consent statutes address at all.
In a hospital: rights that a parent cannot sign away
The picture changes when you are admitted. Welfare and Institutions Code §5325 lists rights for "each person involuntarily detained for evaluation or treatment under provisions of this part, and each person admitted as a voluntary patient for psychiatric evaluation or treatment to any health facility, as defined in Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code, in which psychiatric evaluation or treatment is offered."³ Note the two categories: involuntarily detained and admitted as a voluntary patient. A teenager whose parent signed the admission is a voluntary patient. The section then says: "The rights specified in this section may not be waived by the person's parent, guardian, or conservator."³
Among those rights are the right "to refuse convulsive treatment"³ and "to refuse psychosurgery"³ — and, in the companion section, "a right to be free from harm, including unnecessary or excessive physical restraint, isolation, medication, abuse, or neglect. Medication shall not be used as punishment, for the convenience of staff, as a substitute for program, or in quantities that interfere with the treatment program."⁷
Two honest limits. The right to refuse antipsychotic medication, as such, is in a different section, and that section is written for people on holds: "Any person who is subject to detention pursuant to Section 5150, 5250, 5260, 5270.15, or 5270.70 shall have the right to refuse treatment with antipsychotic medication subject to provisions set forth in this chapter."⁴ A voluntary patient is not on that list. And §5325.1(c) is a right against unnecessary or excessive medication and against medication used for the wrong purposes; it is not a general veto.
On a hold: the capacity hearing, and where minors fit
A minor can be held for 72 hours under a separate part of the code written for minors. It applies when a minor, "as a result of mental disorder, is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled and authorization for voluntary treatment is not available."⁸ That last clause matters: a parent's authorisation is voluntary treatment, which is why a teenager in a psychiatric unit is often there on a parent's signature rather than on a hold.
If you are held and the evaluator concludes you need further treatment, the facility must write a treatment plan identifying "the least restrictive placement alternative" and must make "every effort … to obtain the consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian prior to treatment and placement of the minor." Then the sentence that decides the medication question: "Inability to obtain the consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian shall not preclude the involuntary treatment of a minor who is determined to be gravely disabled or a danger to himself or herself or others. Involuntary treatment shall only be allowed in accordance with the provisions of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act."⁹
The Lanterman-Petris-Short Act's rule on antipsychotic medication is a hearing rule. If a detained person refuses, the medication may be given "only when treatment staff have considered and determined that treatment alternatives to involuntary medication are unlikely to meet the needs of the patient, and upon a determination of that person's incapacity to refuse the treatment, in a hearing held for that purpose."⁵ The emergency exception is narrow and is quoted on our adult page.
One textual wrinkle we are not going to hide. §5325.2 and §5332 list the adult hold sections — §5150, §5250 and so on — and do not list the minors' section, §5585.50. The minors' part says that for the first 72 hours its own "definitions and procedures" govern, and that "evaluation and treatment of a minor beyond the initial 72 hours shall be pursuant to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act."¹⁰ Read together with §5585.53's sentence that involuntary treatment "shall only be allowed in accordance with" that Act,⁹ the better reading is that the capacity-hearing route is the only lawful one for a held minor who refuses. But the cross-reference is by implication rather than by name, and a minor in that position should ask for the patients' rights advocate rather than rely on a paragraph on a website. After 72 hours, a minor kept on a 14-day certification under §5250 is squarely inside the sections that name the right.⁴ ⁵
Three situations with their own rules
Foster care and wards of the court. If you are a dependent of the juvenile court who has been removed from your parents' custody, the question of psychotropic medication is not your parent's to answer at all — it goes to the court on a form. Who decides whether a foster child takes psychiatric medication? → A minor already under the juvenile court's jurisdiction may also, "with the advice of counsel, make voluntary application for inpatient or outpatient mental health services," if the court authorises it.¹¹
Emancipated minors. An emancipated minor "shall be considered as being an adult" for the purpose of "consent to medical, dental, or psychiatric care, without parental consent, knowledge, or liability."¹² And for holds, "legally emancipated minors requiring involuntary treatment shall be considered adults."¹³
ECT. Convulsive treatment has its own age rules — none under 12, emergency-only with a three-psychiatrist review between 12 and 15, and the rights exercised personally at 16 and 17. Can they give me ECT without my consent? →
A worked example
Jonah is 16. After a bad month, his mother took him to a psychiatrist, who prescribed an SSRI. His mother signed the consent; Jonah says he will not take it.
At home, the statute is on his mother's side as to consent and silent as to enforcement: she is the person whose consent the law requires for a psychotropic drug,¹ ² and no section gives Jonah a veto or her a means of compulsion. Two weeks later, after Jonah tells a school counsellor he has thought about ending his life, he is admitted to a private psychiatric unit on his mother's signature. He is now a voluntary patient with §5325 rights she cannot waive.³ He can refuse ECT outright; he cannot be medicated as punishment or for staff convenience;⁷ but the statutory right to refuse antipsychotic medication is written for people on holds, not for him.⁴ If instead he had been picked up by a crisis team and held under §5585.50, a refusal of antipsychotic medication would run into the capacity-hearing rule,⁵ ⁹ and the first thing to ask for would be the advocate. In every version of this story, on the morning he turns 18, the consent becomes his.⁶
Q&A
Q: Can I consent to medication myself at 12, the way I can consent to therapy? A: No. Both minor-consent statutes exclude "psychotropic drugs without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian."¹ ²
Q: If I refuse at home, can my parents have me hospitalised for it? A: Refusing medication is not itself a hold criterion; the minors' hold section requires danger to self or others or grave disability as a result of mental disorder.⁸ A parent can apply for a voluntary admission to a private facility, and if you are 14 or older there is a review you can demand. My parents put me in a psychiatric hospital. Do I get any say? →
Q: Does a hospital have to tell me what the medication is? A: For a person on a hold, the Act requires written and oral information about the medication before it is given, including its name, the reason, the likelihood of improving without it, and the alternatives. What they must tell you first →
Q: My parents are divorced and only one of them agreed. A: Which parent's consent counts is a custody-order question, not a minor-consent question. Can my ex block our child's therapy? →
Q: Can my school make me take it? A: No. School staff are barred from requiring a prescription for a controlled substance as a condition of attending school, being assessed, or receiving special education services. Can the school require ADHD medication? →
Q: What can I actually do at 16 if I disagree? A: The statutes do not give you a procedure. What they leave open is the ordinary one: tell the prescriber, in the appointment, what you object to and why, and ask what the alternatives are. A prescriber who hears a patient refuse has a clinical decision to make about whether to continue writing, and that is where the leverage of a minor who is not legally the decision-maker actually lies. Can my teenager see a therapist without my consent? →
For teens weighing what to tell whom: Consent and privacy for California teens →
Our therapist directory: See its current status →
Sources
- Cal. Family Code §6924(f) — "This section does not authorize a minor to receive convulsive therapy or psychosurgery as defined in subdivisions (f) and (g) of Section 5325 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or psychotropic drugs without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian." The section became operative on July 1, 2024 (subdivision (g)) — california.public.law.
- Cal. Health & Safety Code §124260(e) — "This section does not authorize a minor to receive convulsive treatment or psychosurgery, as defined in subdivisions (f) and (g) of Section 5325 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or psychotropic drugs without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian." — california.public.law.
- Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5325 — the opening sentence quoted on this page; (f) "To refuse convulsive treatment including, but not limited to, any electroconvulsive treatment, any treatment of the mental condition which depends on the induction of a convulsion by any means, and insulin coma treatment"; (g) "To refuse psychosurgery," with the definition that follows; and "The rights specified in this section may not be waived by the person's parent, guardian, or conservator." — california.public.law.
- Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5325.2 — "Any person who is subject to detention pursuant to Section 5150, 5250, 5260, 5270.15, or 5270.70 shall have the right to refuse treatment with antipsychotic medication subject to provisions set forth in this chapter." — california.public.law.
- Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5332(b), quoted on this page; the emergency exception is §5332(e), read with the definition of "emergency" at §5008(m). Both are quoted on Can they medicate me against my will? → — california.public.law.
- Cal. Family Code §6500 — "A minor is an individual who is under 18 years of age." — california.public.law.
- Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5325.1(c), quoted in full on this page — california.public.law.
- Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5585.50 (first two sentences) — "When any minor, as a result of mental disorder, is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled and authorization for voluntary treatment is not available, a peace officer, member of the attending staff, as defined by regulation, of an evaluation facility designated by the county, or other professional person designated by the county may, upon probable cause, take, or cause to be taken, the minor into custody and place him or her in a facility designated by the county and approved by the State Department of Health Care Services as a facility for 72-hour treatment and evaluation of minors. The facility shall make every effort to notify the minor's parent or legal guardian as soon as possible after the minor is detained." — california.public.law. "Gravely disabled minor" is defined at §5585.25.
- Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5585.53 — "If, in the opinion of the professional person conducting the evaluation as specified in Section 5585.52, the minor will require additional mental health treatment, a treatment plan shall be written and shall identify the least restrictive placement alternative in which the minor can receive the necessary treatment. The family, legal guardian, or caretaker and the minor shall be consulted and informed as to the basic recommendations for further treatment and placement requirements. Every effort shall be made to obtain the consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian prior to treatment and placement of the minor. Inability to obtain the consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian shall not preclude the involuntary treatment of a minor who is determined to be gravely disabled or a danger to himself or herself or others. Involuntary treatment shall only be allowed in accordance with the provisions of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 5000))." — california.public.law.
- Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5585.20 — "This part shall apply only to the initial 72 hours of mental health evaluation and treatment provided to a minor. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 5000)), unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions and procedures contained in this part shall, for the initial 72 hours of evaluation and treatment, govern the construction of state law governing the civil commitment of minors for involuntary treatment. To the extent that this part conflicts with any other law, it is the intent of the Legislature that this part shall apply. Evaluation and treatment of a minor beyond the initial 72 hours shall be pursuant to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 5000))." — california.public.law.
- Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §6552 — "A minor who has been declared to be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court may, with the advice of counsel, make voluntary application for inpatient or outpatient mental health services in accordance with Section 5003. Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 6000, Section 6002, or Section 6004, the juvenile court may authorize the minor to make the application if it is satisfied from the evidence before it that the minor is experiencing a mental disorder that may reasonably be expected to be cured or ameliorated by a course of treatment offered by the hospital, facility, or program in which the minor wishes to be placed, and that there is no other available hospital, program, or facility that might better serve the minor's medical needs and best interest." — california.public.law.
- Cal. Family Code §7050 — "An emancipated minor shall be considered as being an adult for the following purposes:" … (e)(1) "Consent to medical, dental, or psychiatric care, without parental consent, knowledge, or liability." — california.public.law.
- Cal. Welfare & Institutions Code §5585.59 — "For the purposes of this part, legally emancipated minors requiring involuntary treatment shall be considered adults and this part shall not apply." — california.public.law.
All sections read on the operative text on 14 September 2026. This page describes the statutes; it is not legal advice. The reading offered on how the capacity-hearing sections reach a minor held under §5585.50 is ours, drawn from the texts quoted, and is flagged as such above.
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