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I really, really wish that was true. I have done a ton of work with the homeless, and so many have very serious mental health issues. Where I worked, we had a h

I really, really wish that was true. I have done a ton of work with the homeless, and so many have very serious mental health issues. Where I worked, we had a holistic approach with therapists, case workers, social workers (for benefits and housing), and sometimes the police - it did basically nothing. In the thousands of people I worked with, I never once saw what you described, despite the pro bono effort of high-power Manhattan lawyers. People who are not acting under their own volition can be dangerous, and it's a travesty that there's no functioning mechanism to return their agency with things like mandated medication.

tcj_phx 10y ago
What state are you in? Laws vary... > and it's a travesty that there's no functioning mechanism to return their agency with things like mandated medication. My observation is that most of the commonly-used medications make the patient worse. This is confirmed by the epidemiological research. See Robert Whitaker's Anatomy of an Epidemic [1], for example. [1] http://robertwhitaker.org/robertwhitaker.org/Anatomy%20of%20an%20Epidemic.html http://robertwhitaker.org/robertwhitaker.org/Anatomy%20of%20...
- tptacek 10y ago
  I think we all want to be very careful using HN comments to relate medical advice.
snikeris 10y ago
> People who are not acting under their own volition can be dangerous, and it's a travesty that there's no functioning mechanism to return their agency with things like mandated medication. I think there is a bit of an ethical quandary here. Perhaps the person prefers their unmedicated state and although their life is a mess from your perspective, they are in fact acting under their own volition. The act of feeding someone pills against their will because you're sure it's better for them is...ethically treacherous.
- tptacek 10y ago
  It is treacherous, but really you're just capturing something basic about mental illness and the extent to which it disrupts our sense of agency. Rescuing someone from suicidality also involves intervening against a patient's agency, but we generally don't feel alarmed about that.

tcj_phx 10y ago

What state are you in? Laws vary... > and it's a travesty that there's no functioning mechanism to return their agency with things like mandated medication. My observation is that most of the commonly-used medications make the patient worse. This is confirmed by the epidemiological research. See Robert Whitaker's Anatomy of an Epidemic [1], for example. [1] http://robertwhitaker.org/robertwhitaker.org/Anatomy%20of%20an%20Epidemic.html http://robertwhitaker.org/robertwhitaker.org/Anatomy%20of%20...

tptacek 10y ago
I think we all want to be very careful using HN comments to relate medical advice.

snikeris 10y ago

> People who are not acting under their own volition can be dangerous, and it's a travesty that there's no functioning mechanism to return their agency with things like mandated medication. I think there is a bit of an ethical quandary here. Perhaps the person prefers their unmedicated state and although their life is a mess from your perspective, they are in fact acting under their own volition. The act of feeding someone pills against their will because you're sure it's better for them is...ethically treacherous.

tptacek 10y ago
It is treacherous, but really you're just capturing something basic about mental illness and the extent to which it disrupts our sense of agency. Rescuing someone from suicidality also involves intervening against a patient's agency, but we generally don't feel alarmed about that.