another interesting CNN article: mentally ill in the legal system

[josehernandez94]

It's not great, but at least it's providing some coverage of an important issue.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/13/btsc.obrien.criminallyinsane/index.html

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[whopper]

I'm in NJ and this state has one of the highest per capita spenditures for the mentally ill (which also causes problems).

I wondered what it would be like to be in a state where the funding of mental health services was severly less than NJ. I asked staff & attendings that have worked in such states and they told me its like what the article described. The mentally ill end up going to jail & often times not getting help.

Well, in NJ we got kind of the opposite problem. The police will dump on us an antisocial guy and that's his only mental illness-which doesn't justify mental health intervention.

"This guy is mentally ill doc, he was trying to rob a store"

Me:"so you send him to jail, you don't send him to the hospital"

Problem with that on my end is the idiot ER doctor is the guy who accepts the pt, not me, so by the time the ER doctor has turfed the patient to me, the cops are long gone and I got this convenient store theif in the crisis center. When we call the cops to pick him up, they say "nope, we ROR'd him, he's yours now".

 

[josehernandez94]

I'm in NJ and this state has one of the highest per capita spenditures for the mentally ill (which also causes problems).

I wondered what it would be like to be in a state where the funding of mental health services was severly less than NJ. I asked staff & attendings that have worked in such states and they told me its like what the article described. The mentally ill end up going to jail & often times not getting help.

Well, in NJ we got kind of the opposite problem. The police will dump on us an antisocial guy and that's his only mental illness-which doesn't justify mental health intervention.

"This guy is mentally ill doc, he was trying to rob a store"

Me:"so you send him to jail, you don't send him to the hospital"

Problem with that on my end is the idiot ER doctor is the guy who accepts the pt, not me, so by the time the ER doctor has turfed the patient to me, the cops are long gone and I got this convenient store theif in the crisis center. When we call the cops to pick him up, they say "nope, we ROR'd him, he's yours now".

So moral of the story is that I should take some self defense electives during 4th year in preparation for residency?

 

[whopper]

So moral of the story is that I should take some self defense electives during 4th year in preparation for residency?

Don't know what its going to be like in your neck of the woods when you do residency.

However my program starting last year added CPI training.
http://www.crisisprevention.com/program/nci.html

I'd like to think other programs offer this but this is the only place I know of that does it.

 

[Hurricane]

Don't know what its going to be like in your neck of the woods when you do residency.

However my program starting last year added CPI training.
http://www.crisisprevention.com/program/nci.html

I'd like to think other programs offer this but this is the only place I know of that does it.

It's required here. I think it's state law. The only "move" from the training I've ever used is the "scoot away quickly without turning your back" maneuver. It's highly technical. But seriously, watching the techs do a takedown, that IS highly technical. Those guys do all their own stunts.