Involuntary Confinement: the past, the present, and the future.
Mental health and psychiatry are changing and developing sciences. There are interesting aspects of psychiatry that this paper will focus on, particularly the idea of involuntary confinement, which means to involuntarily be committed to a mental health institution for the person’s safety and the safety of the public. In an effort to have a better understanding of the idea of involuntary confinement it is important to understand the history and background, as well as the ongoing changes in laws and institutions, and what the future may look like for this aspect of psychiatry. Involuntary confinement or commission has undergone significant transformations over the years, which…show more content… The factors that affected this were the idea that family and community wanted to help rehabilitate those that were exhibiting signs of mental illness, and they felt a disconnect between them and the mentally ill patient. Although there were many efforts to provide treatment that involved family and the community, this idea of avoiding mental institutions and confinement has slowly diminished, perhaps because there were significant failures within the new approach. Once people began to realize that the problem was something beyond their capabilities they began to believe in the system of…show more content… The places where a person can be committed have also changed over time; there are new concepts like “inpatient” commitment which means being referred to an institution and being institutionalized. There is also outpatient commitment, which is the idea of being integrated to the community but being closely monitored by physicians, government agencies, and family. Lastly the concept of criminal commitment in which a person is found to be not guilty in a court case due to mental illness and is in need of treatment that they will be received within the judicial system in prison, or by going to a court mandated involuntary