Forcing mental health treatment will become easier in Oregon. Here’s how

Forcing mental health treatment will become easier in Oregon. Here’s how

CARS. TWO OTHER DRIVERS WERE HOSPITALIZED SOON. OREGON WILL SEE CHANGES TO A LAW THAT ALLOWS JUDGES TO ORDER FORCED MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT. WHEN A PERSON IS DEEMED A DANGER TO THEMSELVES OR OTHERS. TONIGHT WE’RE ON YOUR SIDE BREAKING DOWN THOSE CHANGES. KATU CHRISTINA GIARDINELLI IS LIVE FOR US IN SOUTHEAST PORTLAND. KRISTINA, YOU SPOKE TO THE EXPERTS ABOUT THE CHANGES? TAKES EFFECT AT THE START OF THE YEAR. >> YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT. THE GOVERNOR HAS ALREADY SIGNED THE BILL LAST MONTH. NOW, SOME SAY THIS WILL HELP PEOPLE GET HELP BEFORE THEY’RE A DANGER TO THEMSELVES OR OTHERS. AND THAT ALSO INCLUDES PEOPLE WHO ARE ON THE STREET AND DON’T HAVE FAMILY TO PUSH THEM TO GET HELP. >> IT WAS ALL OF A SUDDEN THING THAT THAT HIT US. WE HAD NO IDEA ANYTHING WAS GOING WRONG. >> JEFF ROD SAYS HIS SON WAS IN MEDICAL SCHOOL WHEN THEY FIRST DISCOVERED HE HAD A CHRONIC MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS. >> HE WAS, YOU KNOW, TOP STUDENT, AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN HE WENT INTO A PSYCHOTIC EVENT, INTO PSYCHOSIS. AND, YOU KNOW, WE HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED IT. WE HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON. >> HE SAYS HOSPITALS WERE ABLE TO HELP A LITTLE, BUT HE HAD TO BE RELEASED WITHIN FIVE DAYS UNLESS HE AGREED TO TREATMENT OR WENT THROUGH CIVIL COMMITMENT PROCEEDINGS, WHERE A JUDGE WOULD NEED TO DECIDE IF HE WAS IMMEDIATE DANGER TO HIMSELF OR OTHERS. >> OREGON’S A REALLY HARD PLACE TO HAVE A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE. >> MANY, LIKE ROB, BELIEVE OREGON’S CIVIL COMMITMENT LAW AS WRITTEN, HAS STOPPED PEOPLE FROM GETTING CARE. THE MAIN ISSUE IS A JUDGE CAN ONLY TAKE THAT STEP WHEN SOMEONE IS AN IMMEDIATE THREAT. SO IN THAT VERY MOMENT IN 2019, ROD’S SON WAS RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE HE COULD NOT BE COMMITTED. >> HE WAS IN COMPLETE PSYCHOSIS AND HE GOT IN AN AIRPLANE AND WENT TO NEW YORK CITY AND A COMPLETE PSYCHOTIC EVENT. AND THAT IS LIKE THE SCARIEST THING YOU CAN IMAGINE. >> ONCE THERE, HE WAS PICKED UP BY POLICE, TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL AND ULTIMATELY CIVILLY COMMITTED BY A NEW YORK JUDGE. NOW HE’S STABLE AND ON MEDICATION. A BILL SPONSORED BY LAWMAKERS LIKE REPRESENTATIVE TOM ANDERSON LOOKS TO MAKE THAT PROCESS EASIER IN OREGON. >> MY CIVIL COMMITMENT BILL SAYS YOU CAN LOOK AT NOT RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU EXPAND IT ALL THE WAY OUT TO LAST WEEK. WERE YOU A DANGER TO YOURSELF? AND THE BILL SAYS WITH THE MATTER WITHIN REASONABLE MEDICAL PROBABILITY, YOU ARE NOW A DANGER, OR IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE YOU WILL BE A DANGER. SO IT IT MAKES IT EASIER TO COMMIT SOMEBODY. >> NOW, HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO PEOPLE WHO ARE ON THE STREETS AND DON’T NECESSARILY HAVE FAMILY THAT CAN HELP GET THEM TO A HOSPITAL? WELL, POLICE CAN PUT ANYONE ON A MENTAL HEALTH HOLD AND TRANSPORT THEM TO THE HOSPITAL. ONCE THERE, WITH COMMITMENT BAR A LITTLE BIT LOWER, THE HOSPITAL CAN THEN SEEK TO HAVE THAT PERSON CIVILLY COMMITTED AND SENT SOMEWHERE WHERE THEY CAN GET TREATMENT AGAINST THEIR WILL. SO THE STATE HOSPITAL OR SECURE RESIDENTIAL FACILITY. LIVE IN SOUTHEAST PORTLAND, CHRISTINA GIARDINELLI KATU NEWS. >> CHRISTINA, THANK YOU FOR THAT. WHILE SOME ARGUE THESE CHANGES ARE A GOOD THING, OTHERS ARGUE THEY’RE HARMFUL. IN APRIL, KATU TALKED TO MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE SARAH SMITH. SHE SAYS LOWERING THE BAR FOR INVOLUNTARY COMMITMENT TAKES FREEDOMS AWAY FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT VIOLENT. >> PEOPLE DESERVE SUPPORT AND A DESERVE CARE IN IN A CRISIS, BUT THEY DON’T DESERVE TO HAVE THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS AND THEIR CIVIL LIBERTIES TAKEN AWAY. THEY DESERVE CHOICE. THEY DESERVE AUTONOMY. THEY DESERVE DIGNITY. >> SMITH TOLD US SHE SAW FIRSTHAND THE HARM 12 CIVIL COMMITMENT AND INVOLUNTARY MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENTS HAD ON HER OWN DAUGHTER. SHE SAYS TO THIS DAY, THEY DON’T FULLY TRUST MEDICAL CARE PROVIDERS. INDIVIDUALS ORDERED TO GET MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT IN THE SYSTEM MAY BE PLACED AT THE OREGON STATE HOSPITAL. AS WE’VE REPORTED, HAS BEEN UNDER TIGHT SCRUTINY IN RECENT MONTHS. SINCE 2020, AT LEAST 21 PATIENTS HAVE DIED THERE. NINE WERE UNEXPECTED. FOLLOWING ANOTHER DEATH IN MARCH, THE HOSPITAL FACED POTENTIAL LOSS OF ACCREDITATION. OREGON GOVERNOR TINA KOTEK ORDERED A LEADERSHIP OVERHAUL. SHE ALSO DIRECTED THE OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY TO COME UP WITH A PLAN TO ADDRESS PATIENT CARE AND SAFETY WITHIN 30 DAYS. CHANGES WENT INTO EFFECT IN APRIL. THE GOVERNOR HAS APPOINTED BOTH ACTING AND INTERIM SUPERINTENDENTS I

Jeff Rott and Kathleen Shaughnessy had no experience dealing with someone in a mental health crisis until their son, Jeff, who at the time was in medical school, began having one.

“He was a top student and then all of a sudden he went into a psychotic event,” Rott said. “It was almost like it was a joke because it was so unreal what we were being presented with.”

In Oregon, when a person undergoing an event like that is taken to the hospital, doctors can hold them against their will for no more than five days without undergoing civil commitment proceedings.

KEEP READING: https://katu.com/news/local/civil-commitment-mental-health-treatment-oregon-law#
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