Great post! The common, and maybe even willful, misconception that people are free to kill themselves has always frustrated me. Particularly because of how often I've seen it displayed in mental healthcare. I've had a therapist tell me, "Nobody can really stop anyone from killing themselves, so deep down you must really want to be alive." Leaving aside how awful it feels to be forced into something and then told that you actually wanted it, I was being told this in a locked psychiatric unit... Telling someone that nobody can stop people from killing themselves, while actively preventing that person from killing himself requires an almost awe-inspiring lack of self awareness.
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TAW122
Emissary of the right to die.
- Aug 30, 2018
- 7,026
In addition to that, it's almost like they are taunting said person because they know said person who is locked in a psychiatric unit is powerless to resist them, have no means of retaliation (especially physically), and that since the mental health system is different from a criminal justice system, a lawyer and legal protections of an accused criminal are moot for said person. It's one of the reasons I made a claim that being in the mental health system or similar situations are worse than being an accused criminal of a serious crime (not that being accused of a serious crime is any good, but being in a mental health system is worse), though some people beg to differ but that's another topic though.
Thankfully I haven't run into too many employees in psych units who would blatantly taunt patients. Unfortunately there have been a few who did seem to provoke certain patients, trying to get a reaction out of them.
I agree, the powerlessness and lack of recourse once it's been decided that someone needs treatment, whatever their wishes, is horrible. What is also really frustrating is that aside from a minority of patients who were truly in a state of psychosis, most of the other patients I've encountered in mental healthcare absolutely meet the standards for capacity in medical decision making. Therefore they should be allowed to refuse treatment. Psychiatric patients for some reason though are deemed lacking in capacity by default.
I agree, the powerlessness and lack of recourse once it's been decided that someone needs treatment, whatever their wishes, is horrible. What is also really frustrating is that aside from a minority of patients who were truly in a state of psychosis, most of the other patients I've encountered in mental healthcare absolutely meet the standards for capacity in medical decision making. Therefore they should be allowed to refuse treatment. Psychiatric patients for some reason though are deemed lacking in capacity by default.
