The awareness can also wax and wane within a single individual. A friend of mine has been forcibly hospitalized several times and the trauma inflicted severely

The awareness can also wax and wane within a single individual. A friend of mine has been forcibly hospitalized several times and the trauma inflicted severely impacted his desire to seek treatment during his more aware periods. When I finally got him to reach out to care providers (since as just a friend, there was no way to setup inpatient care as an intermediary) they made it so difficult for him to enroll that no only did that moment of clarity pass without getting treatment, it also burned up whatever status as an ally that I still had with him. So while changes to commitment laws absolutely can be part of a solution, they must be paired with deep introspection into the despicable failures of our mental health system to provide appropriate care. Otherwise we risk inflicting additional trauma that will make managing future crises far more difficult.