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.
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.
1 comment:
Just wondering, why do you call people with schizophrenia "Consumers"? Is that now PC or something? Thanks,
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