- In 2018 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published NICE Guideline NG108, which addressed Decision-Making and Mental Capacity. Guideline 1.4.24 provides guidance on the concept of insight and its relevance in capacity assessments:
Practitioners should be aware that a person may have decision-making capacity even if they are described as lacking ‘insight’ into their condition. Capacity and insight are 2 distinct concepts. If a practitioner believes a person’s insight/lack of insight is relevant to their assessment of the person’s capacity, they must clearly record what they mean by insight/lack of insight in this context and how they believe it affects/does not affect the person’s capacity.