Texas adds reason people can be detained for mental illness

Abstract

In Texas, a new criterion will be added to the list of reasons for which officers are allowed to detain an individual for evaluation by a mental health professional, the Houston Chronicle reported Aug. 18. Starting Sept. 1, anosognosia, the inability to recognize one's psychiatric condition, will be grounds for a law enforcement officer to detain an individual if it could lead to harm to self or others. In such cases, a doctor would evaluate the patient's mental health within 12 hours and, if deemed necessary, could initiate a series of steps that could lead to a judge deciding whether to court-order treatment. Anosognosia is a result of physical changes to the brain, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and is common with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The shift is being hailed by families, health professionals, law enforcement and city officials as a game changer that can lead to individuals getting lifesaving care. But those who have sought treatment for issues as innocuous as panic attacks and found themselves trapped in facilities with their rights stripped away worry the measure could be abused. The new criterion also puts Texas at the front of a larger shift in mental health law, which has been driven less by pleas from families than by frustration with homelessness. Pressure on officials to address the issue of homelessness has had the rare ability to rally both sides of the political aisle to look more closely at mental health issues. In July, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling on states to “(shift) homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings” or issue court orders for the individuals to take medication and see a doctor for mental illness (see “Advocates disturbed by direction of White House order on homelessness,” MHW, Aug. 4; https://doi.org/10.1002/mhw.34539).