Involuntary Inpatient Commitment in the Context of Mental Health Recovery

Abstract

Involuntary inpatient commitment is a legal reality that includes the need for clinical assessment. Such judgments by mental health professionals have traditionally favored the need for treatment over a person's expressed wish for liberty. With courts deferring to the judgments of mental health professionals, a high threshold for inpatient commitment set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court is effectively lowered. While this infringement of rights can easily be blamed on the courts, the remedy need not be left to them. Mental health professionals have an opportunity to uphold a high standard for involuntary commitment through expressing clinical opinion that supports a person's legitimate right to refuse treatment. The impetus to do so can be found in a recovery orientation that emphasizes the importance of self-directed treatment, choice, and civil rights as guiding principles.