At what point does the safety of others over-ride individual privacy?

Question

Why is it that if mental illness is suspected or recognized in an individual it is ignored?
Why bother to watch for and point out "warning signs" if the "system" can't do anything until someone gets hurt or killed?
At what point does "The System" become responsible for the mentally ill and their actions?

Answer 1

Part of the problem is that we have difficulty identifying who actually is "the system." Is it the doctors? The counselors? The teachers? Everyone involved is expected to take action based on reasonal judgment of the information that is available to them. As a practitioner, I can say that yes, I am responsible for assessing risk. However, risk assessment is not a scientific method. It is based on our clinical judgement as human beings and professionals. We cannot forsee the future, but we are held at a standard of practice to be able to make appropriate assessments with the information that is available to us. I would imagine that the professionals involved in treating the shooter at Virginia Tech will be called out on their assessment of risk, though I don't have enough information to be able to predict the outcome.

Answer 2

HURRAY! I applaud you. I have a daughter who is 19, bi-polor, someone told her when she turned 19 she could come off of her meds because she is considered an adult no and I can't do anything because she is above the age limit and there are new mental health laws to protect her. When she flipped out one night and kept telling me that she would burn down my bed and then kill herself I called the police not knowing what to do and because she HAD NOT YET done either there was NOTHING that they could do! They literally told me she had to hurt herself or me for them to do anything! This has happened more then once.

So either she gets help or everyone has to live with it and deal with it. Most people wouln't live like this so what do they do they throw them out on the street and they either follow through and kill themselves or someone else! I am afraid that this so called system will never pay the price, I have fought them for the last 14 years!!

Answer 3

Part of the problem is that the mentally ill person doesn't always want help, won't go to it and won't take medications. If he/she hasn't yet done anything violent or inappropriate, it's not really possible to lock them up. I know it's a terrible situation, but that's pretty much how it is.

Answer 4

Deep question. Often answered by, "what determines mental illness and who determines it" in court the successful argument has been that many great works of art and literature have been created by, at the time, mad men. AND SO, AND SO. If you can come up with the correct answer share it with me.

Answer 5

If you are concerned for a specific person, you can speak to a lawyer, if the person has demonstrated dangerous behavior such as harm to themselves or other, then it is reasonable that the closest family member get custody. This can happen to a lot of non-functional schizophrenics. The person that is granted custody may have the power to seek treatment for the person, assuming proof of endangerment.