Psychiatry Exposed

[Jackalope]

Spend several weeks in a mental institution, and then tell me how ludicrous the "non-compliance" label is. Sure, the whole thing is highly subjective, but you have to understand that there are many, many severely mentally ill people that refuse to take their medication or participate in treatment. One of the issues with mental illness is it can make your mind unable to understand that you are ill, and it convinces you that you are sane.

+1 to this. I spent almost twenty years slowly spiraling into serious mental illness, unable to see that a problem existed, despite people around me (whom I should have known to trust) telling me that my behavior and mental state were of concern. In hindsight, as much as I would have resented it at the time, I almost wish someone would have intervened.

You're approaching this whole issue from your own rational perspective instead of trying to understand that mental illness and its treatment require otherwise seemingly malicious actions. And yes, that does become a problem when subjectivity is involved, and there needs to be oversight. But to deny mental health officials the right to go against a patient's wishes would effectively neuter their ability to administer treatment.

(Emphasis added) There's the possibility of abuse, yes, and there's necessarily a large amount of subjectivity involved.

As FNM said, spend some time on the *inside* of a mental health treatment facility as a patient and you may come away with a very different perspective on the matter.

For what it's worth, I've never been held against my will (as an adult), nor forced to take medication or undergo any treatment that I didn't consent to, despite going through periods where I was quite uncooperative and even while expressing suicidal ideation. As an adult, I've never *not* been free to walk out the door whenever I chose to (and in fact, did exactly that one time - even though I should not have). Yeah, I know anecdotes aren't worth much, but that's all I have to go on at the moment.

There certainly is potential for abuse, and that's where the oversight comes in.