Definitions. — Guam Code § 86102

§ 86102. Definitions.

For purposes of this Chapter, the following definitions shall apply unless otherwise specifically

provided.

(a) “Department” means the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center (GBHWC).

(b) “Director” means the administrative head of the Department.

(c) “Council” means the Council on Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

COL 2025-12-23

(d) “Mental Illness” means those diseases and conditions which the manifestations of which seem

mostly to affect a person's behavior, feelings, thinking and perception and view of the world around

him to the extent that his mental health is substantially impaired, including the mentally retarded.

(e) “Alcoholism” means a category for persons whose alcohol intake is great enough to damage

their physical health, or their personal or social functioning or when it has become a prerequisite to

normal functioning.

(f) “Drug Abuse” means the use, without compelling medical reason, of drugs which results in

psychological or physiological dependency as a function of continued use in such a manner as to

induce mental, emotional or physical impairment and cause socially dysfunctional or socially

disordering behavior.

(g) “Treatment” means the broad range of emergency, outpatient, intermediate care including

diagnostic evaluation; medical psychiatric, psychological, and social service care; vocational rehabi-

litation and career counseling which may be extended to mentally ill clients, alcoholics, and drug

abusers.

(h) “Community-Based Services” means the provisions of mental health, alcohol and drug abuse

services in a non-institutional setting that is located within (or as close to) the client's community.

(i) “Prevention” means a proactive, interdisciplinary, and multi-cultural approach designed to

empower the individual with social competencies to enable him to cope with life stresses and promote

a healthy functioning life-style. It is proactive in that it spans the deliberate activity before the onset

of the problem. It is interdisciplinary in that it spans the traditional human service delivery systems. It

is multi-cultural as it recognizes the diversity of values of the multi-ethnic people of Guam and

neighboring Pacific Islands. In empowering people, it enhances their natural support system or, when

this support is absent, provides a means of enabling them to help themselves, moving them from

dependency toward personal autonomy in ways that are acceptable to them.

(j) “Provider” means a professional employed in the field of mental health, drugs and alcohol.