Involuntary Mental Health Commitment Process
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Involuntary Committing Someone is:
Committing someone against their will into a Mental Health or Addictions Treatment Facility due to danger to themselves, others or are in need of a drug or alcohol abuse clinic or center. The process usually takes up to a day to complete unless there is a continuance.
I am writing this with the help of my husband who is an Addictions Counselor and a Mental Health Crisis Team Member. I will walk you through the steps involved this process. These are basic steps but they may vary from State to State and County to County. A misconception is that one needs to be a family member to commit someone. You don't have to be a family member to commit anyone and anyone can commit anyone. A police officer who knows the person can file a Petition on someone.
Depending on your location you will need to contact a Mental Health Center, the Clerks Office or your local Police Department. From them you will get a blank Mental Hygiene Petition for Involuntary Commitment Form.
The First Step
Fill out the Petition as clearly as possible. You (the Applicant) will be the one who is to be involved throughout the entire process with the (Respondent) the person whom you are filing on.
When filling out the Petition you will need to make sure each and every question is answered and every signature signed or initialed. Make sure you have it completed in full.
The accounts must be within the last 24 hours and must be seen by you. They will not take any second hand reports and the petition will be denied. Give detailed information such as when, what, how often etc. Give the patterns that you take notice of.
Once the Petition is filled out you must get it notarized. If it is during the day most banks will have a notary there to notarize your form. If it is after hours, check with the Nursing Supervisors in your local hospital.
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You will be working with a Mental Health Crisis Team Member and they would then contact the Hygiene Commissioner. They would need a copy of the Petition for review. They will either accept or deny the petition. Some of the reasons why they would deny a petition would be insufficient facts or the petition was not fully filled out.
If it is accepted the Mental Hygiene Commissioner will issue a Pick-Up Order to the Sheriffs Office in your area. The Deputy will then go to the last address the person was known to be in and serve them with a copy of the petition, and the pick-up order. The person is now in the custody of the police department.
When the respondent, Public Defender and Psychologist are all present the Psychologist will do an assessment. It is at this time the Psychologist will determine if he is going to certify the respondent or not. Sometimes, to get more information, he will talk with the applicant.
From here the Public Defender, the Psychologist, Mental Hygiene Commissioner, Applicant, and Mental Health Crisis Team Member are scheduled for the hearing at a time when everyone can be present.
The Psychologist will then do an assessment on the person being petitioned. It is important that the Applicant as well as the Respondent be present for this meeting.
In the State of West Virginia the person is committed to a State Mental Health Facility or Addictions Treatment Center. The State Mental Health Facility may try to divert them to a local center and if they are full the State Mental Health Facility take them in.
The respondent must have blood work and other lab work done at the local hospital and have a full medical clearance.
When they are committed all paperwork including a copy of the Petition, Pick-up Order, Certificate, and all lab work will be sent to the State Mental Health Facility or Addictions Treatment Center.
The Final Commtment Hearing
From the time that they are committed, the Mental Health Facility or the Addiction's Treatment Center are working on a discharge plan. When the respondent is up for their final commitment hearing they are brought back to the county in which they resided. In this hearing it is decided weather they are to go back to the Mental Health Facility, Addictions Treatment Center or released back into society. It is important that they have some type of follow-up treatment plans.
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I am supposing that it does backfire lots. Alot of anger in the respondent. Sometimes when the pickup order is issued they can't find the person they are to pickup. Eventually they do find them, I guess. Just talkinga but it would bring up some animosity between family members.
Dear Lady Guinevere:
Thank you for discussing a painful & challenging topic with compassion & clarity, so that we can all enjoy greater understanding ~ & therefore greater compassion.
I rated this article "up".
Warm regards...Lady Enchantee
Lady Enchatee, thanks for your compliments and yes we all do need lots more compassion. Thanks for rating it up too.
The real reason I wrote this was that of most of the calls my husband gets when he in On-Call are from people that haven't clue as to what is going to happen if they do this. Heck most of them didn't even know what this was. I, with the work of my husband, wanted to clear some misconceptions up and educate people on this sensitive subject. Thanks for visiting.
The person being committed doesn't see the intervention as something good. It take a good long time before they if ever see it is something that needed to be done. It also depends on the person. I was involuntarily committed twice and at the time I thought my family just wanted to get rid of me. But eventually I saw that it was the best thing they could have done. Well done hub, useful as well.
crazybeanrider, Thanks for visiting. I wish I could tell you of some of the things that I hear, but I can't because of confidentiality. This tears up some families and some it brings them together. It depends on the attitude of the person being committed weather for addictions or mental.
This personally touches home for me. Quite a few years ago my brother and I had to make a painful decision. A lot of family members felt we were doing it out of spite (but many of them could've used an intervention as well, so what they had to say about the issue, we did away with.) After years of mental/physical abuse, manipulation of everyone our mother came in contact with etc..and several escapades of her loading her car up and taking off (but not before calls were made to tell us, "we'd probably find her in a ditch dead somewhere) we made a crucial decision. We had no other choice but to go to a judge and have her court committed.
Her diagnosis? Paranoid schizophrenic, bi-polar, manic-depressant. Wow..what a bomb that was. To think all those years we just thought she was a cold-hearted person with no feelings for anyone else but herself. We found out that she truly was "sick," and needed more help than we could ever give her...but had compassion for her and supported her (as hard as it could be at times) til years later when she lost her battle with cancer.
Thank you for such a great hub. The information was spot-on. :)
bladesofgrass, thank you for visiting my hub and telling us your story. So sorry to hear that your mom passed away with cancer. You may like my other hub that talks abou Mental Illness: http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Truth-About-Demons-and
Thanks for proving this information. It is very useful for many who need to take this painful step to help someone. It definitely helps them to know what will be involved. It is always better to know what you face in trying to help someone that needs help.
scla, yes it does help. I wrote this becasue my husband is on-call every weekend and the people that call him to do commit someone, most don't even have a clue as to what is going to happen. They need to know. Thanks for stopping in and leaving a comment.
hmmm! great and insightful...
Though I have not experienced a situation similar to this, but it has helped me alot...
Thanks, awesome hub
Dchosen_1, Thanks for visiting and reading my hub.
LG I have had something to do with this type of thing and I find it a very harrowing experience for all concerned.
It is scary that 'anyone' can do the committing!
agvulpes, I agree totally with you there. Then again if the Hygeine Commisioner finds nothing worthy to commit someone they are released. I think that is where all heck breaks loose of the family or member who started the proceedings in the firstplace.
Yes it sort of turns the 'game' on it's head and makes the 'hunter' the 'hunted' so to speak!
Lady G-excellent info and well written. Again, I linked one of my hubs to yours. It seems we are on the same mind set here. Mine: Danger to self and others... Thanks. It's so important to advocate for the M.I. and those who are actively addicted.
Denise, Thanks again. My husband was the one who did most of the background work on this as he is the Social Worker.
A committed person is very difficult to handle and he/she never wants to be interfered.
You have given very useful information on this issue.
gulnazahmad, We hope that it clears up lots of misconceptions and the way things go during one of these procedures. Thanks for stopping in and leaving a comment.
I just realized that I never read any of your hubs and I do not know why, for this hub was very powerful and I thank you for your insights!
Highvoltage, Thanks for visiting now. I understand about how busy people get and how they get sucked into many other directions. I get that way lots of times. There is just too many hubs to go read.
An informative, needed article. Thank you. Linda
lindatymensky, Thank you
Well, I am not sure how useful this process is but must be definitely having some advantages which I can't ascertain but I do believe that one should look for other alternatives if there is enough doubt in mind.
linda, this happens every single day. For some it does save their lives. Thanks for stopping in and leaving a comment. Your input is appreciated.
I believe my brother is bipolar. I am an RN and learned alot mental ilness the last year. He attacked me last night & I tried to push me, but did not hit me. Last winter he knocked me out. I wonder if he will do this to my 90 year old mother! do you think I should try to commit him?
I am not a doctor but if he is a threat to you or himself I would take him the the ER and let them tell you your options.
Awesome information!
a family member went to the er to get tx for depression and ended up being involuntarily committed. This teaches the person to never ask for help again, and decreases the possibility that they will ever ask for help again. Shame on you, shame shame shame....
know before you go, These people do not ask for help, they hurt themselves and others and that is what gets them committed. No shame here at all. You must have not read the whole article and THAT is sad and shame on you. This article is about the steps that one goes through to be committed. This happens many, many times in many, many areas. Ignore it if you will but this came right from a Crisis Team Member.
this is a great tool if you have an enemy. you can just call the police on them and claim there is something wrong with the person and in a forceful manner they will be detained, drugged and more then likely diagnosed with a mental disability. go ahead! anyone can doi this to anyone and theres no need for proof or crime comitted just a claim!! its easy just pick up the phone today !!
john, You are mistaken. It does not work that way. The person whom does the calling has to show up at the mental hygiene meeting and most times it is held in the Police Department.
Oh boy do I know how this process works! My mother and I did this on 4 different occasions for my sister. I know every excuse in the book an addict can give and how everything they choose to do is everybody else's fault.
LadyArtisan, I do know what you mean.
msorensson Level 3 Commenter 2 years ago
Hmnn...
The family members of someone who was once close to me did this for an alcoholic member of the family.
It backfired a lot....
To some it will work..
To others we have to allow them to make their decisions...
This is great information. Thank you!!