Helping the Mentally Ill...

Sometimes it seems the only way to get help for a loved one you suspect of  having mental health issues is unfortunately via the criminal judicial system.  In other words, until the person is arrested for some crime, it may be difficult to get a diagnosis or get the person to willingly submit to treatment, even with a diagnosis. Most of us are against forcing an individual to take medicine but what do you do when a person’s brain is the problem and wants to maintain the status quo and, hence, no medicine is welcomed even if it might help the person to heal.  That’s an ongoing dilemma.

Former Nickelodeon star Amanda Bynes is finally going to get some psychiatric help after months of acting out in ways that raised question about whether she is in her “right mind.”

On Monday, July 22, 2013 around 9 pm she was detained for a mental health evaluation after setting a fire in a stranger’s driveway in her California community. She’s now being held for 72 hours on what’s called a 5150 psychiatric hold. It’s involuntary and will legally allow a mental evaluation.  According to the Channel 2 CBS station in Los Angeles:

AMANDA BYNES PLACED ON 5150 HOLD AFTER DISTURBANCE AT THOUSAND OAKS HOME

THOUSAND OAKS (CBSLA.com) — Actress Amanda Bynes was involuntarily hospitalized late Monday for a mental evaluation after authorities received a disturbance call at a Ventura County home.

Local fire and sheriff’s departments responded to a residence in the 200 block of Avenida De Los Arboles around 8:45 p.m., authorities said.

When authorities arrived, they found the 27-year-old, who is a native of the area, outside the house.

“Deputies investigated the incident and determined that she met the criteria of 5150 W&I (California Welfare & Institutions Code),” Cpt. Don Aguilar said. “She was detained and taken for a mental health evaluation.”

“There’s been no charges at this time or crime in reference to this incident,” Cpt. Aguilar told KNX 1070.

Monday’s episode was not Bynes’ first run-in with the law.

On May 23, she was arrested for allegedly throwing a bong out of her New York City apartment window. She has been charged with reckless endangerment and attempted tampering with physical evidence.

Her next court appearance was scheduled for Sept. 26.

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AND there's more... on May 25th, after another incident AND obviously more cries for help... members of the media, including TMZ, began saying Bynes wasn’t crazy enough  to be evaluated for “craziness.”   http://www.tmz.com/2013/05/25/amanda-bynes-not-certifiable-5150-mental-illness-conservatorship/

AMANDA BYNES NOT CERTIFIABLE AND IT’S A BIG PROBLEM

EXCLUSIVE

Amanda Bynes is not 5150 material, meaning she can’t be picked up against her will and held for mental evaluation, at least not yet … this according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.Our sources tell us Amanda has not been diagnosed with any mental illness.  Sources say her parents are worried there are signs she might be bipolar or schizophrenic, but Amanda has been unwilling to undergo psychiatric testing.

We’re told her parents would like to create an involuntary conservatorship, similar to Britney Spears, but Amanda’s conduct is not so over the line that a judge would take away her freedom.  

Ditto for a 5150 psychiatric hold, which would allow authorities to put Amanda in a mental facility against her will for 72 hours for mental evaluation.  We’re told authorities just don’t have the goods.  In fact, Amanda was taken to a hospital after her arrest Thursday night and the shrinks didn’t think an involuntary hold was warranted.

There’s one other option to get a diagnosis. If Amanda is so out of it she can’t understand the nature of the criminal cases that have been filed against her … a judge can halt the proceedings and order a psychiatric evaluation.  Amanda has been involved in 3 criminal cases in California recently, and there was NO effort to go this route.  That’s because she has always been lucid in court.  (TMZ  5/25/2013)

So even though Amanda’s behavior was increasingly “strange” both on and off her twitter account – from wearing blue wigs to court to being threatened with eviction for smoking “weed” in a non-smoking exclusive NY  apartment building…  there’s apparently been a feeling that there’s nothing her parents or others could do about it.

Well, there is... but no one has used the Treatment Advocacy Center's AOT strategy or the NAMI-supported ACT in Bynes case.  TAC's ASSISTED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT (AOT) plan permits court-ordered involuntary treatment of a mental illness while the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) advocates for an ASSERTIVE COMMUNITY TREATMENT (ACT) which requires the support of “the consumer” or mentally ill person.

Either way, and in spite of controversy involving each, the goal is similar:  keep people with mental illness from becoming criminals in order to receive treatment.  Advocates on both sides of the issues are encouraged to actively engaged in mental health care reform debates.

Thus... Amanda Bynes‘ actions are important because, like other celebrities, they are a wake-up call that more, not less, is needed, not only for those with compromised brains, but for the caregivers and loved ones of relatives struggling with mental health issues.  How can a civilized society ignore such cries for help???