For reasons I can’t go into, I now have more doubts about forced treatment than I ever have before. But I will continue to struggle with the issue, as it’s not something I believe can be easily and absolutely decided one way or the other. However:
Bill mandates treatment for mentally ill
liz | 2:25 PM | Uncategorized
Liz Spikol was born in Philadelphia sometime in the 20th century. She started writing about her experience as a person with mental illness in 1999, while employed at Philadelphia Weekly as the paper’s managing editor. Aside from serving as that paper’s web editor, music editor, staff writer, senior editor, executive editor and a host of other random roles that she couldn’t make up her mind about, she has also worked as a Spanish teacher, as a Certified Peer Specialist during Philly’s system-wide transformation and as a communications specialist for a prison reform organization. Currently, she works at the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania and writes book reviews for PW. This blog — named one of the Top 10 Bipolar Blogs of 2007 and 2008 by PsychCentral — is about medications, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, OCD, PTSD, SAD (and many other acronyms), mad pride, Big Pharma, celebrities, hospitals, stigma and the recovery movement. And other stuff.
The article linked to implies that PA requires dangerous behavior but if you read to the bottom you see that just being unable to care for oneself safely meets the criteria for involuntary hospitalization, this means things such as not eating properly, keeping a very messy house, not bathing etc. in my experience on both sides of the law.
When so few receive the treatment they need from the underfunded public mental health system it is the epitome of systemic anosognosia to force treatment upon individuals. I’m certain – NOT – that Pennsylvania will fully fund any AOT legislation so that those who fall under it will receive the best possible treatment rather than just mere “dose drops.” The following testimony was presented before the Members of Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee with respect to New Jersey’s AOT legislation: http://www.njpra.org/Testimony/IOC%20Testimony%209-26-05.htm
When so few receive the treatment they need from the underfunded public mental health system it is the epitome of systemic anosognosia to force treatment upon individuals. I’m certain – NOT – that Pennsylvania will fully fund any AOT legislation so that those who fall under it will receive the best possible treatment rather than just mere “dose drops.” The following testimony was presented before the Members of Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee with respect to New Jersey’s AOT legislation: http://www.njpra.org/Testimony/IOC%20Testimony%209-26-05.htm
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