Had lunch with a psychiatrist.

[Basilisa Marie]

I think court-ordered medication only works if it's tied to guardianship, and whomever has guardianship being able to determine if the person has to take their meds. It's not perfect but it helps deter some of the slippery-slope stuff. 

[Peace]

Okay, imagine you are this kid's parents.  How do you handle it?

I think you know the best thing to do in those situations.

[xSilverPhinx]

Personal freedom is nice in theory but the reality is we do live in societies and that does mean compromising some freedoms. It's a pity but people who are mentally ill have had those cards handed to them by environmental and genetic factors and might have to compromise different freedoms than others who are free from the more serious mental disorders.  

However, most people who are mentally ill are not violent, or are at least way more likely to harm themselves than another. Personally, I don't think being scared enough over one or two isolated cases which results in harm amongst hundreds which don't is enough to warrant that kind of intervention for all. 

(As for meds such as antipsychotics, those things are not easy to take. They can have severe side effects, in some cases even lessening quality of life and having a negative impact on health. The newer meds have less side effects but are way more costly - who's going to pay for them?)    

 It's a tricky situation, but I think that in cases where the mental illness doesn't infringe upon personal rights or the rights of others then there should be no forced intervention. 

 

 

[CatherineM]

That's why CTO's aren't used much in the US, if you order meds, you've got to pay for them. I've seen police refusing to arrest someone who's in the hospital because the second they do their medical bills get sent to the government. A guy in St. Pete caused a big wreck drunk driving and they waited until he was released from the hospital to arrest him for vehicular homicide.