A Case for “Forced Treatment”?

Bipolar Burble blogger Natasha Tracy has a post up today about Laura’s Law (California), which mandates mental health treatment for people who are considered both severely ill and dangerously violent as a court-ordered condition of their living in the community. Unlike forced electroshock, mandated Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) (which doesn’t include forced medication) is showing positive results. Tracy cites results from other states, which show that AOT “helps the seriously mentally ill by reducing homelessness (74%), suicide attempts (55%) and substance abuse (48%).” She also cites gains of the implementation of Laura’s Law, including reduced hospitalization and reduced incarceration.

If you have objections to AOT, check out Tracy’s post. You may find she engages your arguments—and dismantles them.

liz | 2:18 PM | bipolar disorder, criminal justice system, electroshock (ECT), assisted outpatient treatment, bipolar burble, forced electroshock, forced treatment, laura's law, natasha tracy