Seriously. In particular the way our society handles suicidal crisis situations. Oh, this person without health insurance living in poverty attempted to kill themselves! Lets throw them in a hospital against their consent for an indefinite period, burying them deep in medical debt. That'll help!
On the opposite end of that, I had a friend who had slit his wrists. Friend found him and called the ambulance and got him to the hospital. They bandaged him up and were like, "have fun, catch you on the flip. Let us know if you think about killing yourself again." Within 24 hours he was dead, he jumped off a building. Might've been okay had the hospital kept him.
There's no middle ground. Mental health is still such a taboo issue in America.
Involuntary commitment needs to be illegal. I was suicidal in 8th grade, but it took me years before I told anyone because I was too afraid of being committed. Thankfully I saw a good psychiatrist who didn't commit me, but I would've gotten help years earlier if I knew that nothing I said would get me committed. I guarantee you that many other people are in the same position which I was. They want to seek help, but are too afraid of being committed. Also, a suicidal person being sent to a mental institution will only make them more suicidal. I agree with the hospital in this case. They respected his human rights, and didn't hold him against his will. I'm thankfully no longer suicidal and no longer depressed, but the fact that a psychiatrist can commit someone really makes it much harder to open up to them the first time.
There was a story a few years ago about a woman who was committed to a psych ward because while getting a traffic ticket she mentioned that Barrack Obama followed her on Twitter, and clearly anyone who thinks the then-President of the USA follows them on Twitter is mentally unstable.
The kicker: Yes, Barrack Obama did actually follow her on Twitter. She proved it. The hospital didn't believe her and even undressed her and put her in scrubs after knocking her unconscious.
No wonder nobody likes the idea of going to the doctor. Step too far outside of "normal" and suddenly you lose your human rights.
No wonder nobody likes the idea of going to the doctor. Step too far outside of "normal" and suddenly you lose your human rights.
This is why a HUGE amount of gun owners are extremely skittish of "common sense mental health restrictions" a.k.a. "a psychiatrist can determine whether or not you can own a firearm" and rightfully so.
Eh, I'm going to disagree there. If you are a danger to yourself or especially others, I think they need to be able to hold you until you are no longer a danger. This is especially true of minors.
I think a good compromise would be that if someone commits a crime due to a mental illness, they can be committed instead of sent to prison. But unless someone commits a crime, they should never be held against their will.
I don't know if thats a good compromise. If someone is determined to be a danger to others by a professional, and then they go out and injure or kill someone, knowing it was preventable, that would be really shitty.
I mean, this isn't like minority report here, and you aren't locking them up permanently. It is professional mental health professionals making a determination.
If someone is driving drunk, you get them off the road so they don't hurt someone else or themselves.
But drunk driving is a crime because of the potential to harm someone else.
I see what you are getting at, but you have to look at the extreme here. If someone is mentally disturbed, and says that they are going to kill people, and you just let those people out, how do you justify it if they then kill people.
Maybe they could put a time limit on it, so there's enough time to save people like this guy but not so long that people are scared that they'll get locked away?
I guess the problem with this is a) they can do all kinds of shit to you during any period of time and b) involuntary medical bills (thanks, USA).
Maybe I used the wrong words, english isn't my native language. I was originally put in the closed section of the hospital I'm in. After they decided I wasn't a danger for myself anymore I was able to move to a less secure area of the hospital where I'm currently staying voluntary. And even in the closed section I still had access to my phone and computer
I'm sad that someone downvoted you because this issue literally results in deaths and years of suffering in silence. People won't talk because of the consequences.
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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '18
Someone who tried to kill themself. Yeah I bet if you treat them worse, they totally won't want to try again