Please read this:
“A person may be dangerous to self and others when he or she have recently threatened or attempted suicide or some serious bodily injury. He or she may have demonstrated danger of substantial and imminent harm to himself and/ or others through some recent act, attempt or threat of the same.”
Now, I’d welcome your interpretation of this legal definition of a mentally ill person’s status in a court in a crisis center or public psychiatric hospital whose family members or colleagues trying to get an involuntary assessment of their mental health/competence to make their own decisions. Pay particular attention to the words “dangerous”, “threatened”, “recently”, “substantial”, “imminent” or “harm”.
What conduct, voiced statements or behaviors would lead you to your decision to either release the person to society or have them confined temporarily for psychiatric assessment and further action?
This is the legal guidance recently accessed resulting in the release of a young man in Virginia, with mental health history from an assessment session at a local hospital when went home and stabbed his father and shot himself. Not to mention countless other cases across the nation that particular day.