Submitted by northhiker1 t3_zwlnhk in newhampshire
Was reading some recent articles on how mental health services can be extremely difficult to come by in the US, maybe because of cost or rural living
Then someone commented that the fear of being involuntarily committed is a problem within our system too
That got me thinking about people living in NH, VT and Maine
As many people know, if you're involuntarily committed you lose your right to legally own a firearm, and with firearm ownership and hunting being a important cultural aspect of living in the northeast I feel like it can make people not seek the help they need
Do you agree? And if so what changes can be made?
I also wonder if the recent Supreme Court ruling on the 2nd amendment will have any bearing on this in the near future
Ok_Birthday749 t1_j1vdz3m wrote
Every state has a different threshold for which a person can be placed in a secure psychiatric facility against their will. It used to be my job to be the person to make these decisions at a particular agency in Vermont. Here we pretty much have the highest bar for that to be able to occur. A person must be a danger to themselves or others and there must be no other lesser restrictive option to ensure safety before a person can be involuntarily hospitalized.
For a very small group of people this may prevent them from seeking treatment but most of the time it is lack of services. The mental health system in this country is in shambles and has been for decades.