Should mentally ill people who pose a danger to themselves or others be ordered to receive psychiatric treatment? (illegal aliens, lawyers)
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Mental patients in the dangerous category aren't "One flew over the cuckoo's nest" type mildly eccentric characters, they suffer. Badly. As do their surroundings. And the nature of their ailment means they can't make rational treatment decisions. This really is a situation where you have to pick the lesser of two evils.
Mentally ill people have great difficulty receiving psychiatric treatment. Even when government is notified. Even when others in the community also notify government. Even when they ask for treatment. It is just our system. Often they cannot pay for treatment.
Mentally ill people have great difficulty receiving psychiatric treatment. Even when government is notified. Even when others in the community also notify government. Even when they ask for treatment. It is just our system. Often they cannot pay for treatment.
Mental illness is one of the few illnesses in which families disown the patient. If one had diabetes or lung disease, would all these families bail on them and disown them, but somehow this seems to happen with mental illness, probably because people see it as a character flaw. Sad and unfortunatel
What do you think of involuntary committment laws? Do you support or oppose them?
In the past such laws were abused, not only by government, but also by unscrupulous lawyers and devious family members seeking to get their hands on wealth or money.
I'm sure if you tried really, really hard, you could come up with a system that protects everyone, while simultaneously preventing abuses by government or family members or other interested parties.
Voluntarily....
Then they stay in treatment and are not free to harm others or themselves. Or maybe they can move in next door to you,
If they're pretty likely to harm themselves or others, I'd be for this, but what does it mean to pose a danger to themselves or others? I think now, imminent danger is the more commonly used term.
What does that mean?
If someone owns a rattlesnake, and lets the rattlesnake climb over him, that person should not be necessarily made to seek psychiatric treatment.
If a severely schizophrenic person owns a rattlesnake, and lets that rattlesnake climb over him, that could be different.
Maybe I'm a little defensive, knowing a perfectly...so far as I'm aware...sane former high school principal, and former teacher of my cousin's art class, and still an art teacher, who did own a rattlesnake, who he let climb over him, and who did occasionally do things like stick his hand into a tree trunk after a squirrel...and pull out his hand with squirrel hair in his fingers...and reach back in to get the squirrel, and bring it out, gnawing on his thumb...after which time he bit the head off the squirrel. Another time he tried to snap a wild turkey's neck with his bare hands and ended up in the hospital.
I am defensive towards people who will probably hurt themselves...but might not.
I remember when O'Conner came about in the mid-70's. We had a state mental institution in my city. The biggest issue is that suddenly there were no services for these people. It was like literally overnight the flood gates opened. Very few patients had loving family come to take them back home, instead they quickly started living on the streets. The jail became the de facto mental institution.
We need to bring back involuntary confinement but no way would I want it as easy as it was in the 60's. There has to be a happy in between. Not just for society's protection, but for the protection of the mentally ill person. Jails and prisons are not equipped to give proper care to mentally ill people. In a regular jail it is too easy for them to be targets for true criminals.
For the ones that are truly a dnager to themselves and others.
the majority of mentally Ill people can live normal lives with proper Therapy and medication. One of the major proplems is many of these people can't afford treatment. While the government puts Illegal Aliens with Children on Welfare, Mentally Ill adults, many who have paid taxes most of their lives get disgarded.
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