At the end of the day, families are the ones left to pick up the pieces during times of crisis but then are shut out of the treatment of their ill family member. Not because hospitals or treatment providers are anti family but because of privacy laws. The system in Vermont is family based and and family centered until an individual turns 18. Then it becomes about individual civil liberties. At age 18, you can suddenly make important decisions in isolation of your family. Add to that a psychotic break and the presumption that you can still make rational decisions about your treatment in that moment, and who you want to have involved in your care. It is nonsensical. Furthermore, if you had cancer, imagine that your oncologist had to go to court to get "permission" from a Judge to treat it in the most clinically appropriate manner. Why are Judges making these decisions? Parity is lacking.
Re: “Committed: A Son's Mental Illness, a Father's Fight”
At the end of the day, families are the ones left to pick up the pieces during times of crisis but then are shut out of the treatment of their ill family member. Not because hospitals or treatment providers are anti family but because of privacy laws. The system in Vermont is family based and and family centered until an individual turns 18. Then it becomes about individual civil liberties. At age 18, you can suddenly make important decisions in isolation of your family. Add to that a psychotic break and the presumption that you can still make rational decisions about your treatment in that moment, and who you want to have involved in your care. It is nonsensical. Furthermore, if you had cancer, imagine that your oncologist had to go to court to get "permission" from a Judge to treat it in the most clinically appropriate manner. Why are Judges making these decisions? Parity is lacking.