Tales from the Nuthouse: Lest You Think I have a Really Suck Job

[wolf]

In this case, an obstetrician at a local medical hospital ... but all that doctor can do is request that the person be evaluated for psychiatric treatment. There are no automatic hospitalizations under the Pennsylvania law. Even if a judge "orders" someone to be in a psych hospital, s/he can't really. It's all up to the doctor's evaluation and recommendations for level of care. Other states do things differently, however.

When a family member wants to commit someone, they have to come to me, fill out paperwork, and I review it against the criteria for "clear and present danger as a consequence of being severely mentally ill." If I think the information meets that test, I sign a warrant. If it doesn't, I deny the warrant. I have the equivalent power of a Common Pleas Court Judge of the Commonwealth with resepct to issuing a civil body warrant to have someone brought before a psychiatrist against their will for evaluation for inpatient treatment. The doctor decides if the person stays in the hospital or goes home.

An actual judge doesn't get involved until the passage of the first 120 hours of treatment. Up until the end of that time, the treating doctor can file a request for extending treatment up to 20 additional days. The patient goes before the mental health court and usually is represented by a public defender, although they do have the option of using a private attorney. Handy hint: if you ever end up going to mental health court, take the public defender. Private attorneys don't know a darn thing about mental health law, and tend to excell at screwing up a perfectly simple case, and charging you $400/hour for the privilege.

There's a way to extend that further, up to 90 additional days. I typically don't have anything to do with those parts, although I know how the process works.