#involuntary commitment

[hussyknee]

What would your reaction be to a pilot program confining male comedians to safe asylums until they prove they are safe to interact with women and kids? Ideally they would be able to perform under guard and psychiatric supervision, and after a period of years a panel of social workers, doctors and women from the community would assess their compatibility with society at large.

Which males are those? Black? Brown? Indigenous? Undocumented immigrant? Muslim? Disabled? Mentally ill and neurodivergent? Queer? Trans men? Unhoused and poor? All of those men already get arbitrarily thrown in what you euphemistically call "safe asylums" because their very existence is seen as dangerous to women and children. It's why I'm a prison abolitionist. And now you want to add the crime of making bad jokes?

See where it says "Radfems DNI" on my bio? That means clowns like you who send me asks like this. Even if you meant it as a joke, this entire premise is grossly ableist, and pathologizing half the human population frankly unhinged. Take your white female victim complex and GTFO.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The UCP is considering a law that would force people with severe drug addictions to be placed into treatment without their consent, according to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail.

The Compassionate Intervention Act would be the first involuntary treatment law in Canada to target addiction.

Some jurisdictions, including Alberta, already use mental health laws to push people into drug treatment without court orders in exceptionally severe situations.

The Globe says this legislation would give police, as well as the family or legal guardian of drug users, sweeping rights to refer adults and youth to involuntary treatment if they pose risks to themselves or others.

Full article

If this becomes the law, it will be a huge loss of human rights for people that experience addiction. This further removes freedom and bodily autonomy from a group that is already pushed to the margins of society.

Involuntary commitment is a horrible concept that is already used to imprison mentally ill people against their will, and expanding it to include people experiencing addiction makes a bad situation worse.

Make no mistake, this will disproportionately impact people of colour and lgbtq+ people.

(commentary by Samira, @politicsofcanada )

[schizodiaries]

my experience at a mental hospital

Being involuntarily held in a mental hospital can be a frightening, uncomfortable experience. I want to share my experiences at a mental hospital in hopes that, if this ever happens to you, you will hopefully know what to prepare for.

(Note: Every hospital is different and will vary depending on your location, state, country, etc.)

They should give you a booklet that lists all your rights as an involuntary patient. Try to familiarize yourself with these rights.

Phones, watches, and other electronics are generally not allowed. Hoodie/sweatpants strings and shoe laces are also not permitted and will be removed.

Upon admission they may strip search you, to check for scars or smuggled items. They say it’s for safety, but it’s degrading as hell.

They will probably take your blood when you get there, in case they have to prescribe you medication.

You will see a psychiatrist while there. Be honest about your symptoms and try not to mask. The more authentic you are to them, the more they can help you.

They may ask you odd questions, like who the president is, where a certain item in your house is, what month it is, or ask you to spell words backwards. This is to check your orientation and cognitive abilities.

Most hospitals will have group therapy or activity sessions. It’s not necessary to attend these, but they are beneficial.

You might have a roommate and they might be weird. I say this as someone who was the weird roommate. You can ask staff to switch rooms if you feel unsafe.

Staff routinely checks on you roughly every 15 minutes. It can be annoying especially if you want privacy. Bonus points if they shine a flashlight in your face while trying to sleep.

They will check your vitals every morning, usually quite early in the morning. Try not to be put off by the machinery, which might seem scary during an episode.

It’s cold af. I don’t know why mental hospitals are so cold, but you can always ask the staff for extra blankets.

If you have allergies or dietary restrictions, let them know and they will offer you the proper food. I was able to ask for vegetarian options.

It is incredibly boring at a mental hospital. Keep your self entertained with whatever they have to offer, and take advantage of the limited outdoor time they provide you.

Don’t be afraid to ask the front desk for toiletries, menstrual products, grippy socks, clean underwear, etc. You can also ask for earplugs if things get noisy or disruptive.

They will do your laundry, but don’t expect to get your clothes back. My roommate lost all her clothes after they collected it for laundry. It’s better to wear their hospital gowns.

Try not to be put off by the other patients who might exhibit strange or violent behaviors. Unless they are a direct threat or danger to you, it’s best to just ignore them.

Remember that not the end of the world if you have to be hospitalized. It’s not indicative of a personal failure and it doesn’t make you a bad person. Mental hospitals aren’t perfect, but they exist to help stabilize people during a crisis. Don’t feel bad for needing help.

[journalofunhappiness]

There is evidence that psychiatric hospitalization itself — whether voluntary or involuntary — leads to an increased risk of suicide.

Taking psychiatric medications was associated with a six-fold increased likelihood that people would kill themselves; contact with a psychiatric outpatient clinic with an eight-fold increase; visiting a psychiatric emergency room with a 28-fold increase; and admission to a psychiatric hospital a 44-fold increase.

Robert Whitaker

[emperornorton47]

Or they'd offer you some jello.

[moosetwin]

(because it's always someone in a field of medicine who does this)

I noticed that in this Dr. K video he does this exact thing with involuntary commitment, even though you don't, this is still an issue!

A lot of the comments mention their own experiences with it, if anyone is interested.

Whenever I talk about the medical neglect and ableism I've encountered as a victim of the healthcare system, there's always some cockwaffle who feels entitled to come into my inbox and make the argument of "not all doctors" while talking about how "people like them" (because it's always someone in a field of medicine who does this) are doing their best and it's really hard because so many people fake being ill to get on welfare (Yikes), but like, yeah, obviously #not all doctors, because if all doctors were negligent, bullying scum bags, I'd be dead.

But here's the thing: while I truly believe that the majority of doctors are doing their best in a system stacked against them and their patients, their presence does not negate the mass harm caused by the bad ones. And there are far more bad ones than you realize.

Fuck, John Oliver literally did a segment on this last week:

Yes, the truly bad, malicious doctors are in the minority. Most are just horrifically burned out and fighting a losing battle against a system, killing both them and their patients through a lack of funding and resources and profound overwork.

But the malicious ones do exist, and they will go out of their way to harm patients who don't kowtow to them.

I almost lost my life because when I was in my early twenties, I told a doctor I didn't think she was listening to me, and I disagreed with her assessment of my mental health (she was not a mental health doctor, and I was there for heart palpitations and chronic pain). She retaliated by putting "non-compliant" in my file.

There was also a fun little "doesn't show respect" note too that lives rent-free in my head because I know I wasn't rude. I was polite. I just didn't agree with her, and my refusal to accept her off-handed comment that "you probably have bipolar or BPD" (again, I was there for heart palpitations and chronic pain) meant I was "refusing care."

I wasn't. I just refused to be slapped with a mood/personality disorder when I was there because I kept fucking fainting when I stood up.

(Spoiler alert: it was dysautonomia)

That "non-compliant" marker followed me around for years. It followed me across an ocean and effectively ensured that any doctor I saw was going to treat me like absolute dogshit because no one wants to help Difficult Patients. It wasn't until I was so undeniably ill, literally on the brink of death, that anyone helped me.

I'm alive because of a good doctor. And all the good ones that came after him because of him.

So, I know they exist. You don't have to tell me that.

But I really fucking need you to acknowledge the bad ones and that you're part of a system with a long, long history of abusing minorities and vulnerable people. I need you to acknowledge that because it's the only way we're going to survive this godforsaken nightmare and make things better.

So yeah, #notalldoctors, but if you feel the need to say that because someone talking about being literally left to die by the medical system hurts your feelings, I'm going to have to ask you to take a step back and ask yourself if you're going into medicine for the right reasons.

Namely: do you want to help people, even the "difficult" ones?

Even the ones who might disagree with you?

Even if they're on welfare?

Even if they'll never get "better" in a way that means "cured"?

Just a thought. But hey, what do I know. I'm just someone who experienced hemolytic anemia because doctors kept telling me I was anxious and needed to exercise more 🤷‍♀️.

[kataraavatara]

sjm is actually hilarious for having the inner circle give Nesta a choice between being imprisoned at the HoW or straight deportation during their “intervention” could you imagine for a second if social services showed up at your door like whelp. you failed your wellness check. you can either go to this inpatient facility or option number two, mexico,

[stormyoceans]

THE WAY PEEM SPEAKS SOOOO SOFTLY TO PHUM WHEN HE IS WORRIED THEY MAKE ME SICK IN THE HEAD

[ach-sss-no]

animation practice. I very much see issues but would like to move on and declare this finished- it fulfilled its purpose of 'How would it look if I tried [x thing]'

[ehrenyu]

the last time someone had a mental health crisis in my town, it was labeled suicide by cop.

Extremely unpopular opinion but the concept of bodily autonomy needs to FULLY extend to extremely depressed people who are at risk of self-harm. Like, essentially arresting people for it doesn't fucking help, and violates their right to determine their own care. Get people some peer support, therapy, material assistance with daily tasks, get them help that helps. Don't make them walk on eggshells around twitchy medpros who will call the cops on them and throw them in crazy bitch jail for wanting a fucking break.

I'm sick of having to walk on my tiptoes while simultaneously disclosing my trauma to people who could send me off to be further traumatized. Either let me talk or YOU shut the fuck up and don't ASK me about it.

Especially if you aren't my psych or therapist! Sorry, GP's nurse, you don't have my trust. You are some random person I have never seen before. Let it fucking go.

[sysmedsaresexist]

Psych Critical

This post is highly related to this post, and I hope you'll read both. This was written second.

I've sent a couple asks to anti psych blogs talking about my own situation.

My goal isn't to change their minds, but to see what options they think are available to my family. Not every attempt at communication is an attack on a stance. I have real questions.

If there are other options, I'd love to hear them. I want these options to exist. I want more than what my family is going to get.

However, no one has responded to my asks. Maybe they think it's bait and I'm trying to catch them in a trick, maybe they don't know the answer, maybe they don't care (if you're one of those blogs, you've forfeited an opinion on my life).

So I'm going to post, under my own name, and ask again.

This isn't bait. This is my life, my every day normal. This is my father's life, every single day.

Psych Critical is a stance that I don't have a choice in. The psych system is only one thing that my family will turn to for help, and if we don't approach it first, it'll approach us on less kind circumstances. And that's genuinely what we're looking for.

Help.

And I think blanket generalizations like the above are about as useful as trash. I shouldn't have to hate myself and my family for needing help and seeking it out.

My father has something called NF (Neurofibromatosis). You might know this as "elephant man disease," though these are distinct disorders that are different from each other. It's the easiest way to describe it, though. He has tumors all over his body, inside and out, in his case. Visible lumps all over his body.

Unfortunately, these tumors are also on his brain. This causes him to have seizures, strokes, hallucinate, and have bouts of violence towards anyone and everyone. Specifically concerning is the voice of God telling him to punish his (now adult) children, and threatening to harm people based on the colour of their skin and religion. These hallucinations likely stem from the fact that he was raised as an orphan in the church (yes, it's exactly what you think).

There was a time when he could have gotten treatment, but we're past that. Initially, he refused. He was scared, I'm sure he didn't think it would end up like this. Now, he's unable to consent to treatment, and it's so progressed that surgery isn't an option. Chemo never was. To make matters worse, he's an alcoholic, to the point that not drinking will cause seizures and will likely result in death. Not to mention the damage to his liver that's slowly killing him. It's not functioning well these days.

There is no POA or will, and he's not able to consent to signing either. He will not go to any doctors at this point. You can't even have a conversation about this with him. Every plan he's set up on, retirement, pension, disability-- he calls them constantly to fuck around with it, cancel it, take his children's names off it, tell them he doesn't need it. They've stopped talking to him and will only discuss with my mother, despite there being no POA in place.

He is only going to get worse. He is going to die, and he doesn't understand.

My father is already dead. The man that raised me is gone, the man that cared isn't in that head anymore. It's a cruel soul using his body like a puppet until it finally gives out.

At this point... my siblings, mother, and I have had to cut him out of our lives. He's mean. He's so goddamn mean and cruel. His words cut harder than his fists, only because there's nothing left to him. He's skin and bones.

I don't know how much longer my cousin can let him stay there. Then what?

At some point, he will need to be forcibly committed and treated, if only to make him comfortable during his final... years? Months? Days? Because of the unique circumstances, there's likely not a drug that can help curb any of the symptoms. Drugs might be able to get him off the alcohol, but he's not going to like that at all, and that's not what's causing the hallucinations. His memory only gets worse by the day. Simple daily things like using the stove are becoming more of a danger, because he keeps walking away and forgetting.

I have about as much choice in this as he does, and the sooner he's committed, the better for everyone, including him. I mean, he can continue to stay out, and pass out on the streets trying to get home from the bar after getting kicked out for starting fights or getting angry when he's cut off. I don't know if or when he's going to forget the way home, and even if I try not to care... I'm scared.

I fear the day he's picked up by the police. I want him in the legal system even less than the psych system, and I think he'll fight any police that try to approach him. This is a man that, I promise you, would rather be homeless than denied alcohol.

This is not my biological father. He came into my life when I was only 1 year old. My biological father was, surprise surprise, also an alcoholic. He was in a drunk driving accident before I was born that killed other people. He was the driver.

My step dad, the only dad I've ever known, scares me sometimes.

I don't want to be the child of two murderers.

So I ask again, what do you suggest? How is this ableist? Your focus is psychotic people, but that's not the only people in these facilities. That's not the only disease that they treat. I read a couple posts from a linked resource (it's tumblr posts, let's not lie), and one of them mentioned something akin to outpatient treatment. @trans-axolotl because I'm using your post. I actually appreciate the "I don't know" of your answer.

It's a lot better than, "you're ableist for even thinking about this."

Friendos, I don't have a choice but to think about this.

This seemed silly to me, though, because psych wards already act like that. Many of the patients leave during the day to work, shop and visit family, and return at night. Rinse and repeat for them, every day. There's a surprising amount of individualized treatment, freedoms, and steps for each patient.

But not everyone can adhere to that. If my dad got out during the day, he would be drinking, and this would exacerbate the symptoms. He's a dick when he's drunk on the best of days. It's why my mother divorced him originally, before the hallucinations started.

A dry house wouldn't work, either. The places this man has hidden alcohol... he's like a squirrel, it's just everywhere, and he comes across them like,

Inside the WALLS, my guys. Hidden in the basement, the wall goes up to uncovered beams and there's a gap, and he hides them down behind those walls.

Do you know how many spiders are in there? He can fucking drink them, he wins that battle. Touché, dad.

When they tear the house down in the far future, I'm willing to bet they'll find a full liquor store down there. And again, the first time someone says, "you can't bring that in here," he'll turn around and say, "then I'm not going in there, diddles," because his fucking language part of the brain is broken and no matter how many times you explain that "diddle" is a CSA word that you can't just use randomly like that, he forgets.

When I first got married, I had him over to my apartment to spend a few nights. The amount of alcohol that got into my house... I don't even think he brought boxers, just alcohol, and it ended in a fight, and I made him leave. After that, he refused to come visit me. He's never been to my sibling's homes. It was the final straw for me, the things he said to my husband are unforgivable. I keep watch from afar now, talking to my cousin about him.

I said a few paragraphs up that the man that cared is gone. Sometimes, I look back, and I'm reminded of all the doubts growing up that he ever really cared. But I still care, and loving him is painful. The fear of what he's going to do next is even worse.

I want to finish this off with one of my... I don't want to say favorite, but this documentary was one that helped me, a fair bit, when it came out. I'd genuinely like the opinions of anti psych people on this documentary, and the true extent of violence and self harm that some patients display. Heavy trigger warning for severe self harm and violence toward others. Obviously.

For some of these patients, do you see another option for treatment? If not psych wards, what do you suggest happens to some of the patients in the video? What role did the staff actually play in some of the events portrayed?

As a general reminder, this isn't to change minds but open dialogue.

"Psych crits are ableist," is a pretty harsh statement considering the number of people in similar positions to myself. I feel like there's a huge disregard and ignorance for the violence that real people are experiencing.

Again, I'm psych critical, I don't accept the system as it is now, I think there's many improvements to be made. I think there is a need, in a very not small number of cases, for this type of system. I understand and appreciate the intersection of race, poverty and mental health that leads to anti psych sentiments, and I agree. There is a large number of people in psych wards that shouldn't be. This needs to be addressed.

But how do you reconcile both? I can't figure it out. I don't know.

[journalofunhappiness]

No one wants to feel like control has been taken away from them or like they’re a prisoner, especially when they need help. People with mental illnesses need to be treated with compassion and more so when they’re at crisis points. We can’t expect threats of treatment, restraints and other possibly traumatic situations to aid in someone’s recovery.

-Elizabeth Cassidy

[newsfromstolenland]

It's an issue of bodily autonomy as well. Forced medical treatment is a violation of human rights.

Before I say anything else I want to be clear about two things.

One, if you don't have the energy to respond to this/don't want it on your blog I totally understand.

Two this really is in good faith. I'm not playing devils advocate and I'm not trying to prove a point or do a gotcha or anything.

In regards to the involuntary treatment for addiction(and for mental health issues in general), I don't entirely see the problem, and I was hoping you (or someone responding to your blog) could explain why it's such a bad idea.

I understand that these systems provide the perfect opportunity for serious abuse, and I also understand that they fundamentally are violating a person's freedoms.

I also understand that harm reduction options, like safe usage sites, are the best way to go, and that we should be putting our energy and resources into those.

But I also know in my own experiences I do not always have my best interests in mind, and sometimes I need someone to make me do the right things for myself.

My mental health has never gotten so bad that I have been institutionalized, so I may just not be fully grasping the depth of the flaws in the institutions, or I may not be properly understanding the state of mind of someone who is institutionalized.

However, it feels like assuming everyone will always make the right choices for themselves in the context of addiction and mental health, which doesn't seem like a responsible assumption to make.

Obviously I'd rather these institutions not have to exist, and instead provide people support before it reaches the point these systems are used, but we are not at that point yet, and it seems to me like involuntarily treatment is important in the interim.

Is this a situation where we should allow people to make a decision destructive to themselves rather than remove their freedom to make that decision? Or am I oversimplifying it?

I really am asking genuinely, and I'm very open to someone changing my mind. I just can't understand the issue at the moment.

Answer by @politicsofcanada:

There are a few reasons why I oppose involuntary commitment/involuntary treatment.

First of all, it doesn't work. Overwhelmingly, being institutionalized against your will does not benefit your mental or physical health. I studied this in college as well as having firsthand experience. The isolation and judgement that come with being institutionalized make people more likely to use substances to cope. Also, it is akin to being sent to jail for being mentally ill (which also happens but I won't get in to that right now). I've been in these places and they are not comforting, welcoming, or supportive environments. The concept of being sent to jail for being mentally ill should be more than enough to make people oppose this.

These places are rife with abuse and mistreatment. Staff are often violent, condescending, and sometimes sexually abusive. Much like the prison system, (because it operates in nearly exactly the same way) people of colour, poor people, and lgbtq+ people are overrepresented in the system. Marginalized people are more likely to experience addiction as a result of alienation from society, and involuntary commitment only makes that sense of alienation worse. Overwhelmingly, the best support one can offer someone experiencing addiction is safe supply, safe consumption sites, and community support.

Community support is far more effective than institutionalization. The only reason people prefer to lock people with addictions away is because its more convenient not to deal with them. Actually caring about people dealing with this means including them in your community, not locking them away.

[automaticresponse]

INVADING SOMEONE'S PERSONAL HOME LIKE CRIMINALS HAVE DONE AT BRAD GEIGER'S ON WHITETAIL

[lamiaoflilith]

my gal calliope in her regular fit and her nurse scrubs!!! done by @crownedinmarigolds thank you so much they’re so amazing!!!

[loving-n0t-heyting]

I roll my eyes at a lot of “passive voice is propaganda” theorising but I absolutely endorse a similar thesis about the way labour regulations get reported on. Labour rules prohibiting overnight shifts for women (or whatever) are not imposing sanctions on the workers doing the work, they’re imposing sanctions on the employers extracting that work. Duh!! Calling this a ban on women working overnight shifts is like calling homicide laws a ban on being murdered