Pros And Cons Of Involuntary Treatment

1275 Words3 Pages

Involuntary Treatment
Involuntary hospitalization is a legal procedure used to require individuals with mental health disorders to receive treatment withoaut their care. I am addressing this topic because there is an enormous problem in the medical field with treatment care. Involuntary health care treatment should not be forced upon because it can cause more harm than damage.
Kendra’s Law was passed in 1999 and is a New York law concerning involuntary outpatient commitment. It grants judges the authority to issue orders that require people who meet certain criteria to regularly undergo psychiatric treatment. This is part of the problem with involuntary treatment. Tahe issue with Kendra’s law is that it is unconstitutional. At the Matter v. Storer case, the New York Court of Appeals recognized that the patient had the right to choose/ refuse treatment over the doctor. Therefore, forcing someone to go to a mental treatment facility is unconstitutional. Kendra’s Law is just something that the court uses when they don’t want to let someone who has a mental illness out on the street.
One of the main issues is that patients tend to suffer from anosognosia. Anosognosia is a condition in …show more content…

The first is that the patient does get treated at some point. They might slip back into their illness but at some point, most of the patients have gotten better or fully recovered. This is beneficial to the patient’s health and the health of those around them. A study was shown that the total number of patients who don’t undergo psychiatric treatment could commit around 1,000 murders each year. There is a number that is smaller than that because even though patients who go to treatment get treated, some relapse. Also, if doctors didn’t put the patients on medications, they could potentially hurt themselves and the people around them. Medications do help the treatment process, but the dosage amount is

Open Document