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Involuntary Commitment
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from Chinnup
I was forcibly removed from my private residence by the PET team called in by my family in 1984. Although they only now have some idea of what BP (bipolar disorder) is and how it affects me, we broke fellowship over their committing me for years ...
... My family had a very hard time for years convincing me that they only wanted me to get well and that I had been making suicidal statements for some time. I didn't recall making any suicidal statements and just this past week found my own diary from 1984. In it I wrote three good-bye letters to family members and it is now clear to me that I intended to take my own life and therefore, the life of my now healthy, happy, great fourteen year old son. So, you see, they really had no choice in committing me.
from Wonder
I have been put in the hospital involuntarily twice. Once I fought the staff physically and was put in restraints. But both of those times, after things calmed down, I was grateful to those who put me in there.
Legal Issues
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from Lisa
As long as you are not a danger to yourself or others, no competent doctor will keep you against your will. I know in Nebraska when a doctor wanted me institutionalized and had me committed, I was assigned a public defender that kept me out of the institution.
from Sheez1
It is very, very hard to find someone with the courts that will recommend having a person's rights taken away permanently. Usually if a person is a danger to themselves or someone else, they do a 72-hour hold. After that, if the hospital feels the person is not stable enough yet, they recommend an additional hold, usually a matter of days. At this time they have a hearing where someone from the courts step in and review what the hospital recommends - if they are wanting to hold the person an additional amount of time. Usually the courts will release a person even when the doctor wants to keep the person for a longer period because it costs about $3,000 per day for the care in a hospital and the state swallows the cost when there is no insurance.
from Tristan
States vary in their laws about legal commitment and guardianship. I'd talk to a free legal service about it. I know that they can require an adult person to have a guardian if there are just grounds and cause. Don't know how they measure that. Involuntary commitment and legal guardianship are tricky issues at times. Good legal counsel would be the best advice. Usually there is a free legal service offered in most cities or counties. Look in the yellow pages.
Poor Experiences
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from Chinnup
I was also pregnant at the time and only psychotherapy was allowed, after the "idiots" at a county facility finally listened to my ranting and performed a simple blood test. Up to that point, I was given Thorazine and was terrified of what it was doing to my then three-week old child. I had been strapped tightly with leather restraints, medicated against my will and then confined to a cold, drafty, room, with only the noise of the icy air conditioner to distract me from my terror. I thought I was being punished for being pregnant.
from Lisa
I was in one place (as a patient) that I considered abusive. It wasn't physical. It was emotional abuse. I spent 36 hours of a living hell in that place, and I've told as many professionals about it as I've been able to, many of them saying they would pass the word not to use that hospital if it wasn't necessary.
Positive Experiences
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from Debgeo
The first time that you go into the hospital can be scary. How your visit will be in the hospital all depends on the hospital. I have gotten some good experiences with the hospital. In a lot of ways when I feel out of control, I feel really safe in the hospital. Also, I have found that in the hospital I can get stabilized enough to function in the real world. I have also found that if I wait too long to get in the hospital, it takes a lot longer to get stabilized.
from Feather
Being hospitalized was the best thing that happened to me back in 1978. God alone knows what I was about to do next (I did a lot before my sister recognized that I needed help).
