Involuntary Treatment

I was talking to a friend of mine from the Schizophrenia Society tonight. Somehow we got on the topic of advocacy. One of the things we need to advocate for is getting people into treatment if even against their will.

There are many people who are very ill but they do not believe that they are ill. Therefore they refuse treatment. People say that in Canada we all have rights. In reality in Canada our rights are not being imputed unto us all because of stigma. Consumers cannot find work, they run into problems in school, have trouble finding housing, live in poverty, and many consumers end up living on the street.

Yet when it comes to being forced into treatment against someones will that is infringing on their rights. We are taking away their rights by giving them involuntary treatment. Society is not being logical about this whole matter including Doctors, psychologists, and other people who work in the mental health field.

I must say with gladness that the Government of Nova Scotia has passed the Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act. The original bill was drawn up. It was refused to be passed and then revised. Finally it went through all the readings and was passed and made law.

This looks good on paper but the act is not being implemented. I have been hearing stories left and right that people that should be receiving involuntary treatment are not getting it because the Doctors are not forcing it upon them despite this Act. They are left out in the cold and have to go through life suffering the tortures and torments of mental illness.

Even though violence is very rare amongst consumers there are consumers that do commit violent acts. It is a known fact that those consumers that do commit violent acts do so as a result of not being treated for their mental illness. They are not taking medication and as a result they suffer from hallucinations (both visual and auditory) and they are suffering from bazaar delusions that defy reason. It's because of these symptoms that they carry out these acts.

If they were being treated these acts would never be committed.

So, the question is "do consumers that are not being treated for their illness have to suffer from guilt and spend the rest of their lives in prison for a violent act they have committed, have to suffer all this because it is against their rights to receive involuntary treatment?"

Is it their right to suffer the symptoms of mental illness? Is it their right to spend their lives in prison for a crime they have committed as a result of their illness? Is it their right to live on the street because they cannot get work because of their illness? Is it their right not to get a higher education because of their illness? Is it their right to live a useless and hopeless life because of their illness? This list of questions could go on and on forever.

I personally believe that not giving involuntary treatment to those who need it is not logical, compassionate, and just. It is simply not right. It is not right to refuse treatment to those who need it under the pretense that they have rights. I also believe that the reason people do not believe that they are ill is because this problem is an actual symptom of mental illness. They are suffering from a symptom. Looking at it from this standpoint is it right to let them go on in life ill because of a symptom. Do they have the right to suffer because of a particular symptom of their illness that they have no control over. It is not their fault that they do not believe that they are ill. They are not making a rational, logical decision by refusing treatment. If they understand their illness, can understand the treatment options, understand the pros and cons of the treatment offered, then they have the right to refuse treatment. People who refuse treatment because they do not think that they are ill do not understand their illness, the treatments being offered, and the pros and cons of the treatment offered. They simply don't believe that they are ill. Therefore they do not need medication for an illness that they do not have.

I think that it is about time that the people who work in the mental health field, the police, the judges and all those involved should start making sure that those people that are severely ill but do not believe they are ill and refuse treatment get that treatment that they do deserve. People do not deserve to suffer as a result of a symptom of their mental illness.

We are supposed to be living in a just society and it is simply not just to make people suffer needlessly. All consumers and family members of consumers should rise up and demand that justice be done. We demand justice. Society is asleep. It is time that the people that are responsible for treating the mentally ill wake up from their slumber. Wake up and see that justice is done.

I might suffer from mental illness but I am also a rational, logical, and organized thinker. My thought processes are just as rational, logical, and organized as anyone else in society because I am being treated for my mental illness. If I was not being treated for my mental illness I would not be able to make that claim. Mental illness is treatable. There is hope for those that have the privilege of being treated. Let us all wake up and give everyone the hope of recovery.

What do I want to Accomplish in Life?

I have been doing a lot of soul searching about what I would like to accomplish in life outside my marriage and three part time jobs.

I presently work at Flyer Services putting flyers together. I also have two writing jobs. I write for the Schizophrenia Newsletter published by the Kings County Chapter of the Schizophrenia Society. I also write for the Mental Health Perspective Newsletter published by the Kings County Branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

These three things keep me pretty busy but not busy enough. When I was severely ill I accomplished nothing in life. I was totally useless. For fifteen to twenty years I suffered from what the Doctors labeled me as "long term chronically mentally ill."

About nine years ago the Doctors found the right medication. My mental illness is almost in complete remission. I am also recovering from the disease of addiction and alcoholism. I have been clean and sober for almost nine years.

Now that I am well I have that drive deep within to do things, be successful and accomplish things in life. I personally believe that "when it's all over all that matters is what we have done."

When I pass on from this life I want to leave behind me a legacy of things that I have accomplished. I am having a hard time deciding what else I would like to accomplish both spiritually and in my secular life.

Concerning my secular life I want to have a career and bring in more income than I bring in at the present moment. I consider my two writing jobs as my career but I would like to advance my writing career and make more income from it. It is a very difficult thing to break into the free lance writing business. Especially since I am a new writer just starting out.

I have also been considering getting training at a collage or university and getting a job in the field of my study for a career. But that is not practical. It costs thousands of dollars and will take up a lot of time. I am getting older and by the time I graduate it will almost be time to retire.

I have also been considering starting up my own business buying and selling books. As you can see I have lots of ideas floating around in my head and I just can't decide what I want to do. I believe the main reason I am having a hard time deciding is because of my obsessive compulsive disorder. I have trouble making decisions and when I do make one I cannot carry it through to the end. I change my mind and start something else. I am just going around in circles.

I am hoping to get control of my OCD and make a decision and carry it through to the end. I want to decide what I truly want to accomplish in life and work on my decision until the day I die. I need to draw up a plan with all the goals and objectives written down and work on them on a daily basis. When I have accomplished one set of goals and objectives then move on to the next set of goals and objectives on the plan. Eventually I will have accomplished the things that I have decided to accomplish in life.

This isn't going to be easy. I have a lot of hard work ahead of me. But I am bound and determined to succeed. I am not going to give up and just keep plugging along. Some day I will have fulfilled my destiny in life and die in peace knowing that I have accomplished the things that I have set out to accomplish.

I just wanted to share these things with my readers.

Bye for now.