Re: Stupid but?
I always thought the reason suicide is illegal in the US is so that the police can forcibly detain one for treatment given an unsuccessful attempt. Not sure how I feel about that...
On the one hand I mentored a guy who had a rough go of his early life and really got himself together. Left the service, went to school, got hired and was doing well until a security clearance RE-investigation got his clearance pulled because 15yrs in the past he had been taken into custody for threatening to off himself. Note that he did report the depression issues to the man in the first place... we ALL knew of and respected his struggles and victory... no blackmail material here! But we ended up firing him anyways. W.T.F., over??? That helps who? How?
The flip side is that I had to convince a sibling to voluntarily surrender to a state hospital. Violent, out of control, totally f'ed up at the time. Hadn't yet been convicted of any crime so there was no way to get him treatment unless he volunteered. Any idea how freakin' hard it is to convince a manic depressive in an epic manic swing that they have a problem, not the rest of us? And that the incredible rush is a problem in the first place? In that kind of situation I can understand why the courts want some leverage in mental health crises.
But is criminalization the answer?
Good news: 18 years on my brother is doing great. The guy I hired and mentored crashed after losing job / career setback. Spouse was un-freakin-helpful. But now he's doing OK.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
