Aa
Danger to others? The outcome?
What happens when a person is a danger to others or appears to be? Does it vary by state/country? I've heard in Ontario, Canada and New Jersey they take you to jail the second time and there's no hospital stay.
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I don't believe that they could arrest a person unless they have committed a crime. However because there are a fair number of people with psychiatric disabilities who are homeless (on a statistical basis) and who are not able to follow up with treatment they can interact with people in a way that might lead them to be arrested and as articles by standard mental health professionals reflect the psychiatric care in prisons is very poor. What is needed are greater community supports and services to insure that people who have been hospitalized long term are able to have appropriate housing and outpatient follow up including treatment. If a person regardless of diagnosis engages in behavior that could lead them to be arrested then they might not be hospitalized first. It depends on the specifics as to what has occurred. Some states also have laws that mandate that if a person discontinues treatment repeatedly and becomes dangerous to themselves or others that they can be mandated to take medication (this is called outpatient commitment). Laws outside the United States may differ. The best policy for anyone is to report any concerns of thoughts they have especially if they might act on them that are of this nature to their psychiatrist who can follow up at that point.
I don't know about this as I live in the UK but what a terrible thing to happen! so short sighted and disgusting!
I was just wondering because a friend of mine says they're in this particular situation where they said it was confirmed that they would be arrested and sent jail and there would be no psychiatric hospital visit if they started speaking in a way that could be perceived as violent.
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