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I always go back to movies like "Halloween" and "One flew over the Cukoo's Nest" when I think of psych hospitals...I know that really doesn't add much to the topic but Dr Loomis and McMurphy really stick in the back of my mind on topics like this...
Who can forget Nurse Ratched ... a real sweetheart!
1. Look at the demographic. Whether its cause/effect or effect/cause, there is a ton of homelessness and polysubstance abuse.
2. With the above comes the constant traffic. All psych hospitals admit 24/7, so if crazy Bill is let out at 2am, with no ride, guess where he ends up... Wandering your street.
3. With any hospital (regardless of psych or not) there is an increase in general traffic, which includes commercial vehicles, and public safety vehicles.
Those are three without thinking for more than 10 seconds. Its not PC, but the vast majority of psych is associated with crime, drugs and helplessness. It doesn't mean that psych=bad, I'm just saying that there is a higher ratio with it.
What sort of work do you do with this "clientele"?
Hopefully you're not a nurse or anyone else who's supposed to be empathic or have a clue about how facilities work.
At least there your psycho neighbors are locked in. In most neighborhoods they're free to run loose.
I think they're only allowed to place certain categories of mental health patients on locked wards ie if they're detained involuntarily. Otherwise treatment is voluntary and they can leave whenever they want, just like a patient in any other hospital.
...this thread isn't about what sort of work I do...
My post has nothing to do with why one should be/not be empathetic, and the post is appropriate.
The tread is titled "Would you live or move to a home beside a psychiatric hospital"
If you feel exceptionally empathetic, than go ahead and volunteer your neighborhood for the hospital.
Otherwise I work DAILY in a setting that deals with psychiatric patients and I stand by what I said...
For clarification:
1) IVC - Involuntary committment - patient can not leave until CLEARED by the mental health team. Once they are no longer deemed a threat to themselves, society, and are not delusional, they legally can leave at ANY time.
2) Voluntary (non-IVC) - patient is requesting help, and even if admitted, has the legal right to leave at any time.
Lastly, if the hospital has intake emergency services, people CAN show up, and/or leave at ANY time, as long as they don't meet criteria for #1.
2) Voluntary (non-IVC) - patient is requesting help, and even if admitted, has the legal right to leave at any time.
Lastly, if the hospital has intake emergency services, people CAN show up, and/or leave at ANY time, as long as they don't meet criteria for #1.
As someone whom works with the specified clientele I expect you know your statement above is inaccurate. I won't venture to guess if this is deliberate or not.
People should first understand that "voluntary commitments" aren't substitutes for a mini-vacation (as you imply). Even when it's voluntary, a psychiatrist must agree that one should be hospitalized in order to gain admission. Then, a hearing must occur within 10 days, to determine whether the individual will remain in the hospital. Thus, no one has the "legal right to leave" an inpatient mental healthcare facility "at any time".
If you are a voluntary admission and decide that you no longer need treatment, you can ask to be discharged by completing the necessary forms. At this time, you will be allowed to leave within 72 hours (which is typical of most states hence the common terminology "72 hour hold") unless your doctor feels you need further treatment. If the doctor thinks you need to stay, then the process for involuntary commitment begins - and woe is the person trying to fight the system at this juncture.
It is completely erroneous to give people the impression that anyone commited, voluntary or otherwise, has the freedom to come and go as one pleases. And, as stated upthread, discharges don't occur at 2 AM although an admission very well might. And no one leaves without a treatment plan.
I personally wouldn't be too concerned other than the property value decrease (fact of life). I just hope that security and such matters are well attended to and I am pretty sure they will be. I would definately prefer to have this facility than a halfway house for ex-crackheads.
Follow‐up on Inpatient Commitment Order* * G.S. 122C‐277
A. Release:
(1) Discharge: The attending physician in inpatient cases must discharge
unconditionally inpatient committees at any time she determines that the
respondent no longer meets the criteria for commitment.
If the patient does not meet criteria (and not admitted), then they must be released, you can not hold someone against their will and NOT have them be admitted, hence IVC. This applies if the patient is at any facility at any time. They can be held for the paperwork for up to 72hrs, but if the attending MD places a statement "the patient no longer meets criteria for involuntary commitment" than the patient must be allowed to leave.
The responding agency must return the patient to their own place of residence IF the patient requests, and only if the patient has a residence.
Lastly, the above laws ONLY apply to inpatient and IVC patients, it does not apply if a patient is seeking outpatient treatment (i.e. - med refills, behavioral therapy, "want to talk", detox etc.) So if the mental hospital has an emergency intake, YES they absolutely CAN be discharged at any time, and they can also can show up at any time.
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