Probe Increase In Commitments
By The IntelligencerTwo questions need to be asked about an Associated Press report that West Virginia's state mental hospitals are overcrowded. First: Why? Second, what should be done about it?
A total of 240 beds are available at the state's two acute-care psychiatric hospitals, in Weston and Huntington. One, the William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in Weston, is relatively new. It was opened in 1994 to replace the old state mental hospital in the same town.
But according to the AP, the state is handling 379 mental health patients who have been committed involuntarily. They are people judged by the state to be in need of care, in some cases because they may be threats to the well being of themselves or others.
Because not enough beds are available at the two state facilities, overflow patients are sent to private hospitals. The state pays for their treatment. Some of those committed involuntarily, including those charged with crimes, must be kept at the state hospitals.
Some legislators think the state should expand its psychiatric care treatment system. The issue is being looked into by the state Bureau for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities.
Spending taxpayers' money to build and operate new facilities would be a knee-jerk reaction - which is not to say that such a response would be inappropriate. More needs to be known about the situation before any decisions are made, however.
High on the priority list for investigation should be why demand for psychiatric care has increased.
In 2000, the state dealt with 5,553 petitions seeking involuntary commitment of mental health patients, according to the AP. By 2006 the number had shot up to 8,887. That is an increase of approximately 60 percent.
It is difficult if not impossible to believe that during less than a decade, the percentage of West Virginians with mental illnesses requiring involuntary commitment increased so drastically. Why, then, did requests for involuntary commitment balloon? And why are more people being committed against their wills?
Before anything else is done to address the problem of overcrowding at state mental hospitals, those two questions need to be answered.
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lewisandclark
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07-08-08 10:34 PM
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OR maybe more people are being involuntarily committed because friends and neighbors are just scared of people with mental illnesses and want to do what they can to keep them locked up and hidden. Try it once, figure out it works, try it on another member or family member. Recommend it to a friend to try... In most people's opinions, people with mental illnesses are scary and should be locked away for the good of everyone.
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lewisandclark
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07-08-08 10:32 PM
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"why demand for psychiatric care has increased." It's for many reasons, one is that people are more likely to ask for help, more illnesses are being recognized and treated, and there is less stigma (though still too much) in asking for help and admitting you have a mental illness. In 2000, the state dealt with 5,553 petitions seeking involuntary commitment of mental health patients, according to the AP. By 2006 the number had shot up to 8,887. That is an increase of approximately 60 percent. Could it be that people are now better at recognizing signs and symptoms, that the education, and more interested in helping and protecting others? Maybe the work organizations like NAMI & NIMH are doing are helping. More patients are being involuntarily committed because for some reason along the line - maybe the stigma, the embarrassment, the lack of insurance, the shame - have kept them from seeking any treatment until it's too late. When one is uninsured, a quick way to get h
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cory1978
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06-23-08 1:24 PM
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you sure your not a woman jeff? you always have to have the last word.
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Georgetwin
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06-19-08 4:43 PM
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Cory, Liberals are pacifists aren't they? Yet more hypocrisy?!?!?!
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Georgetwin
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06-19-08 4:37 PM
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Cory, if it is any of your business (IT’S NOT), I am working in Timonium, Maryland for the foreseeable future. Also I am a busy man and I AM NOT at your beck and call. I applied your standards to YOU and now you have a chip on your shoulder because I have exposed your idiocy and hypocrisy. I will be in The Valley again in late summer. If that isn’t good enough for you, ***********expedia****/pub/agent.dll?qscr=mrdr&rtyp=0&unit=0&lats1=39.91858639655972&lons1=-80.74665346224165&alts1=34®n1=0&plce1=Moundsville%2C+West+Virginia%2C+United+States&lats2=39.44956&lons2=-76.641199&alts2=5&strt2=5+Dodworth+Ct+Apt+301&city2=Timonium&stnm2=MD&zipc2=21093®n2=0&labl2=5+Dodworth+Ct+Apt+301%2C%0ATimonium%2C+MD+21093-2025&
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Georgetwin
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06-18-08 3:56 PM
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Coward1978 LIBERAL TRAITS – They are fundamentally physical and moral cowards (i.e. BitterrCoward1978, Billary Cankleton). They abhor a level playing field as they lack the skill and/or courage to make it on their own, so they WHINE and CRY that the government should help them (i.e. Shrillary Cankleton, BitterCoward1978). They don’t believe in RIGHT and WRONG as they believe themselves to be SMARTER than everyone else and therefore, they know what is best for ‘the little people’ (i.e. BitterCoward1978, Al Bore). They tend to be dysfunctional and/or tend towards addiction and rationalize this state of affairs by saying, “EVERYONE does it!” (i.e. Fairy Reid, Christopher Dodd, Billary Cankleton). They lack the COURAGE to be a Leader as their cowardice precludes strong, decisive, action when faced with a conflict (Billary Cankleton, LBJ). They are pathological liars, especially to the wives they CHEAT ON with alarming regularity (i.e. LBJ, JFK< Billary Cankleton). They KNOW if they tol
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cory1978
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06-18-08 1:11 PM
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I'm glad to see that the loons can still communicate between themselves.
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Georgetwin
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06-18-08 11:56 AM
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KTBass, Roney's.
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ktbass
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06-18-08 11:22 AM
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Which is it, Roney's or Rooney's? Maybe I should commit myself and find out!!
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Georgetwin
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06-18-08 11:00 AM
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KTBass, a few of them are STILL at Roney's Point :)!
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ktbass
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06-18-08 10:50 AM
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My mom told me when I was a kid that they used to house crazies in Triadelphia at Rooney's Point! How come Bush didn't help those people? D*** Bush!!
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ktbass
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06-18-08 10:47 AM
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GT, I didn't want to go there! If only Bush would have done a fly over our state he could have accessed the situation and got the people the help they needed! D*** Bush!
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Georgetwin
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06-18-08 10:19 AM
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KTBass, I AM SURPRISED at you! YOU KNOW it is President Bush’s Fault!
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ktbass
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06-18-08 7:26 AM
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I know why. We have a bunch of crazy hillbillies in this state:)
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