Tag: psychiatric commitment
Involuntary Obedience: Rituals of Humiliation Disguised as ‘Care’
Like slavery took such a long time to be âofficiallyâ forbidden, psychiatric hospitals will be with us for some time yet. Their masters, the doctors or administrators, no longer give beatings with their hands but with the far more treacherous chemicals that allow them to keep a good conscience and distribute what are beatings nevertheless.
Officer May Have Driven Around Flooded Road Barriers, Killing Patients
From Buzzfeed News: "The law enforcement officer behind the wheel of the van overtaken by floodwaters Tuesday in South Carolina, killing two women who were being...
Two Women Seeking Mental Health Care Drowned in Sheriffâs Van
From The New York Times: "Sometime that evening, the van, carrying Ms. Green and Wendy Newton, another woman being transported to a mental health...
âLiberty versus Need â Our Struggle to Care for People with...
In an editorial for NEJM, Lisa Rosenbaum, MD, discusses the decision to use involuntary psychiatric commitment.
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I am Insane
I have been here at Western State Hospital for almost five years. While Iâve been told that Iâve met all the criteria for a conditional release, the hospital wonât grant me this because I canât prove that I wonât be dangerous in the future. Can anyone prove this? Even convicts donât have to prove theyâre âsafeâ before they are freed.
They Call This âHelpâ
âWonât they know Iâm lying?â I asked. âWonât they know Iâm an impostor?â âNo,â he said, ânot at all. You can tell them youâre suffering from delusions and theyâll believe it almost without question. It doesnât matter if you donât have any history of psychiatric illness or hospitalization, just make up some nonsense about hearing voices and theyâll swallow the whole thing hook, line and sinker.â