Posted by syringachalet on March 5, 2003, at 16:08:23
In reply to Re: Forcing mentally ill to take drugs - NY Times » syringachalet, posted by wendy b. on March 5, 2003, at 14:12:46
Thanks, Wendy, for the clarification of your position.
I couldnt agree with you more that a patient
should NOT be medicated against his will simply at the convenience to the caregivers or family.I have had to counsel patients more than once regarding other medications such as birth control methods. For patients who choose to be sexually active during their institutionalization they
are told that if they have a pregnancy result, that they would not be able to keep
that child and it would be made a
ward of the state and put up for adoption.
The state has decided that it will not support any inmate children conceived during incarceration. Most inmates then agree to a pill or shot and when they are paroled they can decided for themselves if they continue or not.
They DO have a choice: the meds or no sex.Getting back to the psych meds...
anytime a patient should be medicated,
regardless if it is with or without consent,
that medication and the behavior it was intitally prescribed for needs to be evaluated for effectiveness and serious decisions made
about the benefits-risks of continued
dosage and duration.there are choices in these situations.
Most people who come to us are in crisis
mode and have been for a long time.
Most also temporarily lack the good
judgement for major decisions.
By the state temp(<72 hours) taking that
control, that person dooesnt have to try
to make big decisions and can give himself
time to calm down and start refocusing on what he needs to do to get his life and good decision making back in motion for his basic ADLs.All of my clients have a AIMs(autonomic involuntary muscle screening) for potential TD(tardive dyskenisa) prior to initial regular dosage and every 30 days X 3 months.
If anyone thought they could get away with doing that type of forced medication here, the ACLU and the Human Rights Commission would be on them like ugly on a pig...talk about pitt bulls with lipstick..LOL Its all about choices.
Thanks for sharing.
syringachalet
poster:syringachalet
thread:205800
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030301/msgs/206202.html