This Clip Made Me Watch It Over And Over With Tears

[tachyfor50years]

[Joann]

[Lethargic Smiles]

Two thoughts...

1) I am happy this story is being told.

2) The woman who said her daughter was put is a locked psych ward... The scene sequence implied this was done against her will. In the US, involuntary psych admissions occur in only very extreme circumstances and only if imminent danger to the person is near. I worked on a crisis hotline, so I know this to be true. Some people WANT to be admitted to a psych ward and are actually denied because no imminent threat exists. Are the laws different in some European countries? (Not sure where this is based but noticed accents)

[GlenGrail]

I don't know where the clip was set, but even in the US involuntary commitment laws tend to vary from state to state. In some states (Arizona, Nevada, and Iowa come to mind) the process is relatively easy, but still subject to a high burden of proof. In other countries, the laws vary even more. In Britain, patients can be committed for up to six months, though this depends upon the judgment of mental health professionals (a frightening idea, if you ask me). Holland has a robust system of involuntary commitment institutions; at any given time, between 1500 and 2000 persons are generally confined in these wards. Every year or two, they get a chance to appeal for release.

If you go back even forty or fifty years, even in the US before some Supreme Court decisions, involuntary commitment was much more common and easier to achieve. The case narrated in the video sounds very similar to a famous CFS/ME case in Britain, perhaps around the 60's or 70's. A child paralyzed with ME was subjected to various barbarisms as the doctors tried to get him to reveal that his paralysis was simulated. He was almost drowned in a pool, in the belief that he was faking his condition and that he would eventually swim to avoid drowning. I forget the other tortures they put him through; I believe the psychiatrists left him in a chair for a long time, believing that he would get up to use the bathroom. He didn't, of course, and soiled himself. His wheelchair would be suddenly tipped forward; they expected that he would involuntarily put out his arms to catch himself. He didn't. Terrible stories, I'll try to track down the source. It sounds like the girl in the video experienced the same treatment; judging by the accents, that may have been in Britain around the same time.

[Hope]

I was on a jury a few years back where a man had been committed for his allotted amount of time, and the state had him in court to try to recommit him. It was very clear to me that he was being treated unfairly by the system and in the mental hospital according to all the info we were given. At the end of the day, all my fellow jurors agreed and he was set free. The abuse of power over people even in America can be truly disgusting.

[RichGotsPots]

Jackie-I don't think she was implying it was against her will. I believe she was put there because of her diagnosis and nothing was implied as to how. But I'll give you another example of a similar case that happened to a famous man that they made a documentary about. He was a jack of all trades. He was first a strongman at a young age able to do amazing feats of strength, then he became an iron worker and then head engineer among almost every landmark building in NYC. He was head engineer at the Manhattan project. Then later on in his life he became an actor and was in over 100 movies. He was in such good health in his 80's that he felt like he was 30. He was the most fit I ever seen for a man in his 80's. Then one day the love of his life died, his wife. And about a year later he started to lose a ton of weight and lost all his strength,seemingly out of nowhere. Yes he was depressed over his wife's passing. But At some point he was so ill he finally went to see a doctor. The doctor told him he needed to be in hospital, so he consented and thought he will get help. In reality the doctor put him in a psychiatric ward. Weeks and weeks passed and he wasn't getting help and did not know why and he was helpless. One day a prominent dr. Passed by and started up a conversation with him and realized he was not crazy at all and that he was actually having congestive heart failure the whole time! That doctor saved his life and he regained his strength and lived well into his 90's. just a guess but what could have happened is the doctors had everyone convinced a psych ward would cure that girl so probably she had no power and maybe a family member consented or maybe she was convinced and consented. Because everyone wants to get better sometimes we can be convinced of anything.

[bellgirl]

This is so very sad, especially after caring for chronically ill children in my nursing career; how could anyone do or think such a thing as this...It is such a tragedy. That's why awareness is so very important, and more research into illnesses that are rare, and also individual in every case.