> The Soviet Union famously declared dissidents as "mentally ill" and used that as an excuse to lock them away. Does the US want to follow in the Soviet's foots

> The Soviet Union famously declared dissidents as "mentally ill" and used that as an excuse to lock them away. Does the US want to follow in the Soviet's footsteps? It is difficult to weaponize mental healthcare in the US. Our quality of care is expensive and is often quite good. It's costly enough that most of the US is dominated by a lack of mental healthcare for the poor. In other words, we can't get willing people locked up. And some types of care, like long-term inpatient, is only available to the wealthy. Past that, we have involuntary lockup now, typically for 72 hours. It doesn't stand out in the arsenal of tools that get misused by LEO. source: 25y caregiver of spouse w/ mi