Kathleen Flaherty writes in the Hartford Courant that “the desire to ‘fix’ Connecticut’s mental health system, including use of involuntary outpatient commitments, is understandable.” However, she argues, the belief that more involuntary treatment will help is very misguided.
Flaherty writes that, “as someone who was forcibly treated in a psychiatric hospital and required to take medication to keep my law license, I know involuntary outpatient commitment, which puts a patient on court-ordered medications, therapy or other treatments, simply does not fix anything and diverts discussion and dollars from the real issues.”
Involuntary Mental Health Treatment No Fix (Hartford Courant, January 30, 2015)
