How Can You Have Someone Committed to a Mental Institution?
Question by Haley J: How can you have someone committed to a mental institution?
My brother is 50 years old and a drug addict. He lives off my 67 year old mother. He has had heart attacks and strokes but continues to do drugs daily. How can I have him committed to a drug treatment center or better yet a mental health institution because he is mental and he has no control over his life or his addictions. I live in Ohio. Serious answers only please.
Best answer:
Answer by Mark
You need to find out about the mental health code in Ohio (I live in Michigan).
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9 Responses to How Can You Have Someone Committed to a Mental Institution?
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Sorry but you cant.You could get a lawyer an try to get a guardianship over him,but that would very difficult to do.Or all addicts would be in rehabs!!
It sounds like you are not your brothers friend.
Maybe you should convience your mother to kick him out of the house.
Once he is gone, you have eliminated your problem.
Unless you can prove he poses an immediate danger to himself (ie suicidal) or to others, you can’t have him committed, in even in those cases, usually only for 72 hours. Unfortunately, there’s no law against these kinds of things. Best of luck.
Call ur magistrate–in some states if u get the magistrate to believe the person u r trying to commit is in danger of harming himself or others they will issue a commitment paper and the police will pick him up and take him to the state mental institution.
I think you would need at least three referrals from psychiatrists to do this.
Not many people are committed to mental health institutions these days. It is a difficult situation for you.
Has he ever committed a crime? That may be your only option if he won’t go voluntarily into a drug rehabilitation centre, there probably is not much you can do
Very Heroic thing you’re doing!!!
You’re not only helping Mom and your brother, but you’re helping society too!!! It seems that many in society are too cowardly to take steps to force someone to mature. Keep in mind you can push, however, it may be many years of pushing. Some will give one little push and walk away if the push failed. You need to find the strenght to push, pull, and hit the goal — “Drug Free”.
God bless u on u’r journey. Check out this web-site. You should also check with your Chruch. Don’t have a Church … well, with Mom’s health, it would probably do wonders for you all to start visiting God & meeting ppl (healthy ppl) at least weekly.
You can’t not unless he says he is going to commit suicide directly or hurt someone. I wouldn’t get a sane person admitted it’ll just piss them off and waste their time. As soon as a psychologist confirms their not hurting anyone they’ll be let out.
You could get him arrested for possessing drugs. People can OD as much as they want it’s not suicide neither is extreme sports or drinking. You can’t get him submitted to a drug center either. You have to convince him to go of his own free will.
You can look under Ohio State Statutes and find your answer. If he poses a danger to himself (doesn’t take medications he needs to live, etc)., is suicidal, poses a danger to someone else, he can be committed. This is tricky.
As someone stated, he can be put on a 72 hr hold. If this happens, the state determines if he needs to have a court date set at which time they will determine if he poses this threat. It is best to look up the answers because I could go on and on to try to answer this.
Someone also stated 3 Psychiatrists need to sign – not so. It is 3 people. This type of situation has loopholes also. so your best bet is to read up on this and go from there.
Usually a drug addict will get into trouble with the law. When this happens several times, he becomes more “known” so to say with the officials. Police do have say over committments but many times they do not want to take on this responsibility. This is where they fall short.
Good luck. You have a fight ahead of you.
Serious, but not sugar coated, ok? Mental illness criteria normally is independent of drug use/ addiction. In other words, the two are separate issues, and unless he is free of the drugs, and STILL has behavior that meets criteria, then you have a simple addiction issue. As others said, criteria for court ordered or emergency hospitalization, has to do with imminent danger to self or someone else. Sheer stupidity with addiction does not equal mental illness.
Point 2… there is a two part issue here. Your mother allows him to stay, what is commonly called an enabler. As long as she provides and allows him to stay there, she is protecting him from consequences. She believes she is helping him, I am sure. Enablers or “helpers” can be more harmful than they will ever admit. Even if he were to get treatment, he would be right back there. Without her cooperation, things won’t change. BOTH of them have to want change, badly enough to do what is needed.
It is not likely you would succeed in having him committed anywhere, and if you did, it is very unlikely to work.
Seriously… my suggestion is a support group for family members of drug addicts, if you have such a thing near you. You need people who have LIVED this, and know what is like, what works and what doesn’t. I am absolutely and totally not saying you are not hurting, because you are, and it is valid.
My experience is with a child who is mentally ill, with severe bipolar. The hardest thing in my entire life is to admit that as a mother, I have NO CONTROL to make her life better. I would cut off my arm if I could. The only thing I have control over, is myself, and finding some small corner of peace for me.