patients

Full Disclosure - am a MH Consumer & Advocate writing on my own accord, with no affiliation whatsoever to media, government or activist groups and am a private citizen employed as a Truck Driver who wants to empower our Mental Health #treatment community so they can continue saving lives and lifting up society.

When it comes to #mentalwellness , Forced Therapy can be Compassionate Therapy. Heard this in an Audiobook yesterday by DJ Jaffe, put another way, something along the lines of "We may much rather have forced treatment than forced criminal incarcerations" - because many people in prison, may never have been diagnosed yet. People living with Severe Mental Illness are 20-1 times more likely to end up in prison than in a hospital. In order to protect both our vulnerable Mental Health #patients and our vulnerable Public, we must adopt Mental Wellness focused legislation similar to, the H.R.3717 Helping Families in Mental Health #Crisis Act of 2013, and go yet the further, empowering our Mental Wellness Professionals individually to have legal authority, for self certifying Need Of #Therapy Orders, including and not limited to, IVC & AOT.

Many people discover incremental improvements in their Mental Wellness Journey before being fully recovered, which is when some often suddenly begin refusing treatment, ghosting their dedicated Mental Health Team. As if the diagnosis was some misunderstanding or maybe they've been cured. This recede and withdraw phase, remains not some new phenomenon or an independent decision, rather it is part of the process, we must continue working through towards healing. The unfortunate reality is however, when we prioritize Patient Rights over Patient Health, we end up losing both; with many of these Patients falling into the same downward spiral - that recurring and worsening of their Mental #suffering ; leading them to Unaliving themselves, Drug Addictions, Public Outbursts, Unemployment & Rising Crime, which become a burden to Family Members, Themselves and to Society.

Organizations like APA, MHA, MHLG, NASW, NAMI, NABH, NCMW, NIMH, SAMHSA, TAC, THE MIGHTY and others, can help our Civilization with structured healing only when we let them. Otherwise, we continue to actively accept rising Drug Addictions, spreading Crime Rates, climbing national Unaliving Statistics and out of control Growing Poverty, into our very own neighborhoods and schools.

At some point, many Mental Health Consumers can enter an expected phase, where they become counterproductive, even asserting rights, to refuse continuing safe and effective Treatment, unless they are deemed a threat to themselves or others in a scheduled Court Hearing. Sadly, Hearings remain very time consuming when there are only minutes available, rather than weeks. When a Psychotherapist finally finds out a Patient is going through a combative withdrawal phase, planning an Attack or Unaliving themselves, it’s often already too late for scheduling Court Hearings to obtain an IVC or AOT order.

So we end up with hurt or worse, Victims, many of whom come to us for help. All it takes, to become a threat to injuring oneself or others; is that single Event, a Personal Crisis or Manic Episode, maybe some observed Social Media Post, an Intrusive Thought or even a Snap Impulse.

Short of the Federal or Municipal Government putting forward a much needed program of regularly introducing the continuous supply of SSRi and/or an Antipsychotic solution into our Water Treatment Facilities across the nation to benefit public health, our growing Crime Rates and our random Violence are becoming the new normal. While our Mental Health Professionals are handcuffed, in literal red tape, under "Patient Rights" - they still somehow carry this very heavy onus; or Crystal Ball, to be the ones who ring alarm before a grenade suddenly rolls across the busy office floor.

Reasonably, we don't allow intoxicated people to make decisions behind the wheel of a vehicle. So when does it make sense to have Mental Health Patients, who are naturally unaware of therapeutic benefits in Psychology and Psychiatry; making decisions to refuse, cancel or even ghost, their needed Mental Health Therapy?

It cannot be guaranteed that the Patient is even remotely aware what incidents may occur for themselves or others nearby, or even what is going on at the time, when doing so.
"Comprehension of important Medical Information'' and the "ability to keep a Safe Environment" - currently, stipulate whether your next possible Serial Outburst, gets treatment or not. They may lack the capacity to make responsible decisions hours after an interview, during a depressive or manic episode, where their brain chemicals do not function in the predicted way, causing them to suddenly snap. We don't have to continue inviting this.

Enabling our Mental Health Professionals to help and empower our Mental Wellness and SMI Consumers, is a two way street. We must remove bureaucratic red tape and allow our Mental Health Professionals to exercise their own Professional Judgment, having Discretionary Authority, without needing time consuming Court Orders, when providing on ground responsive Emergency Care, for Clients during their next sudden Crisis Event - as it happens - not after. This is how we streamline Mental Wellness. Only then, can we begin to curb random Public Outbursts, Terrorism, Road Rage, Domestic Disputes and more. Another positive, would be having too, Migrants, who may be silently suffering with Mental Illness, #PTSD , et cetera - finally being treated, who otherwise would go homeless, unaccounted, undocumented and untreated, left roaming neighborhoods.

And so it remains with great urgency that our Elected Representatives Draft then Pass Legislation, streamlining our Mental Wellness Professionals, with legal power to self certify IVC & AOT orders. This way, we will finally be lowering criminal activities; random violence, daily road rage and even, serial outbursts.

We owe this to both our Public and our Patients, who are actively seeking to improve their #MentalHealth .

Most Sincerely, Patient & Mental Health Treatment Advocate,

Frankie

Sources; Look Up Your State - Treatment Advocacy Center

Here’s a quote that gets me through tough times.