Patients. PARAGUAY (Photo credit: Community Eye Health)
Mental health clinics cant usually force someone to receive psychiatric treatment. However, a person may be forced to undergo an involuntary commitment if they pose a danger to themselves or others. They will be placed under a 5150 psychiatric commitment. You will want to understand your rights if you are ever placed under a 5150.
What is the Process for an Involuntary Commitment
Laws regarding 5150 holds can vary across jurisdictions. However, a patient usually needs to be placed under a 5150 by a peace officer or a licensed mental health professional. They will require you to go to a psychiatric hospital or getrehab for depression.
You will then be brought to the hospital for evaluation. The psychiatrists there will deem whether you should be held for observation and treatment. They can generally hold you up to 72 hours without a court order. Patients can request to have the order overturned if they feel it was inappropriate. However, attorneys usually decide against doing so because the court date would usually be scheduled after the order has expired.
Criteria for a 5150
Patients cannot be placed under a 5150 without good cause. Here are some requirements that must be met. You can contest a 5150 if these terms cant be shown.
Mental Illness
Patients must be suffering from a mental illness before they can be placed under a 5150. The purpose of a 5150 is to provide the patient with a safe place while clinicians can treat them. Those who engage in dangerous behaviors without suffering from a mental illness may be subject to incarceration instead of a psychiatric hold.
Pose a Danger
Patients must pose a danger to themselves or others. The threat must be immediate. There is a somewhat specific qualifier which states that patients can be hospitalized if they are too mentally disabled to take care of themselves.
Your Rights
The hospital needs to treat you with dignity and respect while you are under a 5150. Here are some of the rights that you cannot be deprived of:
- The right to have food, a bed, clean clothes and grooming tools for personal hygiene
- The right to be free from being physically restrained except during an emergency
- The right to refuse medication except under an emergency
- The right to prompt medical care
- The right to work out and engage in other extracurricular activities
- The right to socialize with other patients
- The right to confidentiality
- The right to legal representation if you feel that your rights have been violated
These rights cannot be deprived without cause. There are other privileges that the hospital is required to try to provide to you. For example, they will need to try to allow you to wear your own clothes, have visitors, make phone calls and send mail. However, they may deny these privileges to you with sufficient cause.
There are a number of rights that are promised to patients under the terms of a 5150. You will want to understand your rights before you are committed so that you can speak up for yourself if they are violated.
