Government Involvement in Treatment of Mentally Ill, Essay Example

Mental illnesses can affect anyone at any age, race or income. It is a medical condition which interferes with a person’s normal abilities to think and feel. A person’s mood and the appropriateness of dealing with others, in addition to routine daily functioning will be disrupted. Mental illnesses prevalent in society include major depression, panic disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Recovery for a person with a mental illness can be treated and recovery is possible.

A large debate over mentally ill individuals is the fine line between competency and incompetency. The government currently cannot impose treatment on the mentally ill. However, the question comes into the equation of who knows what the best is for the individual and their specific needs. While a person may not be determined to be a threat to him or herself, or to society, there still remains the problem of how serious the illness is and their ability to provide self-care.

In an article by John Gibeaut titled Who Knows Best? a man is faced with dealing with a brother with schizophrenia. Upon finally placing the brother in a hospital, he promptly checked himself out and traveled to another state. Since the patient was not a threat, the hospital was not allowed to hold him. However, the brother was not competent to care for himself, or make sound and solid decisions.

The article goes into detail on the problems which arise in patients who are borderline dangerous. The author suggests that often times the physicians do not wish to hear comments from friends or family on how the patient is incapable of self-care, but rather want to pass the problem onto the mental health professionals. Persons with a mental illness lose the capacity to understand that they have this illness (Gibeaut, 2000). The problem comes into play when a person has a gun collection or the tendency to act out violently. While most cases are harmless, the ones who erupt unexpectedly can create harm to others.

A debate over government involvement and how much authority they should be given in dealing with these individuals is ongoing and exhaustive to those fighting it. Exasperation, anger and society’s fear of the mentally ill have caused legislators and courts over the last decade to consider new ways to force those with serious diseases of the mind into treatment. There are positives and negatives to both sides. The problem seems to be in the lack of knowing exactly what a person is capable of. Even those deemed to be passive and mild can unexpectedly go into a rage and cause damage to property and persons. Alcohol and drug usage increase the risk of a person becoming dangerous.

I believe the family of the individuals has more authority in helping manage individuals with mental illnesses.  History of violence or other helpful history could be instrumental in making determinations for the treatment of individuals with problems. However, the question of competency is an argumentative battle in most cases. Family members may embellish on the seriousness of the disease in order to be relieved of care-giving duties.  No matter how things are handled, everyone suffers when a mental illness is involved.

References

Gibeaut, J. G. (2009, January). Who knows best? ABA Journal, 43-49.