Who was going to pay for his hospitalization? Do we know that he had health insurance that would cover it? No one will pay for the mentally ill to be locked up indefinitely. Most people with TB aren't in a hospital either. Perhaps we need temporary forehead tattoos: TB - don't allow on planes; mentally ill - don't give this guy a gun. You can get them removed when you're cured. In this political climate, you're as likely to sell the idea of forehead tatoos as find someone to pay for hospitalization.

This article is an excerpt from an article on how the mentally ill in Norway are treated. Of course Norway like every other industrialized country has universal healthcare but also the destigmatation of mental illness is mentioned. I think the stigmas in this country of mental illness as well as most insurance companies giving short shrift to care contribute to the debate of how to address the problem.

Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: How Mentally Ill in Norway are Treated (http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/002486.html)

I would like to say that Norway just made my 'escape' list, but they were already on it.

Who was going to pay for his hospitalization? Do we know that he had health insurance that would cover it? No one will pay for the mentally ill to be locked up indefinitely. Most people with TB aren't in a hospital either. Perhaps we need temporary forehead tattoos: TB - don't allow on planes; mentally ill - don't give this guy a gun. You can get them removed when you're cured. In this political climate, you're as likely to sell the idea of forehead tatoos as find someone to pay for hospitalization.

There are legal ramifications of a TB diagnosis. And yes you may be confined against your will as well if you aren't treated. http://www.ok.gov/health2/documents/TB%20Home%20Isolation%20for%20TB.pdf

Society benefits from the hospitalization of TB patients or mentally ill patients, consequently society picks up the tab. Treatment at the onset of either can be way cheaper, especially in lives lost.

There are legal with TB http://www.ok.gov/health2/documents/TB%20Home%20Isolation%20for%20TB.pdf

Oh, I know, but people with TB get lost all the time. I've never seen anyone forcibly hospitalized. Perhaps it happens, but they are out among us just like people with guns. Luckily, it's not very contagious for casual contacts.

This is why I referenced TB in my comment.

2007 tuberculosis scare - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_tuberculosis_scare)


The 2007 tuberculosis scare occurred when Atlanta personal-injury lawyer Andrew "Drew" Speaker flew from Atlanta, Georgia to Paris, France and on to Greece and then Italy before returning on a flight from Prague, Czech Republic to Montreal, Canada, where he crossed over the border and back into the United States while infected with multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis.[1][2] The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believed at the time that Speaker was suffering from extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). The incident sparked a debate in Congress on the failure of federal customs agents to stop him.[2] Upon Speaker's return to the United States, the CDC placed him under involuntary isolation (similar to quarantine) using a provision of the Public Health Service Act.[3] With this action, Speaker became the first individual subjected to a CDC isolation order since 1963.[4]

A very small percentage of individuals with mental illness walk the streets or commit violent crimes. I work with mentally ill people every day who are able to live healthy and productive lives if given access to supportive treatments. Brain diseases affect all ages, income levels, and cultural groups. Chances are someone in your household or your neighbor's household has a diagnosable and treatable mental health problem.

A very small percentage of individuals with mental illness walk the streets or commit violent crimes. I work with mentally ill people every day who are able to live healthy and productive lives if given access to supportive treatments. Brain diseases affect all ages, income levels, and cultural groups. Chances are someone in your household or your neighbor's household has a diagnosable and treatable mental health problem.

Not a diagnosis: Voices in head more common than thought - NBC News.com (http://www.nbcnews.com/health/not-diagnosis-voices-head-more-common-thought-4B11186594)

Over the last 10 days two people have told me they hear voices and both thought the sound originated from outside their own head. They say the voice instructed/prompted them to do something and both of them did it, and it was a life changing decision for both of them. What happens if in the future these voices tell them to do something bad?

Not a diagnosis: Voices in head more common than thought - NBC News.com (http://www.nbcnews.com/health/not-diagnosis-voices-head-more-common-thought-4B11186594)

Over the last 10 days two people have told me they hear voices and both thought the sound originated from outside their own head. They say the voice instructed/prompted them to do something and both of them did it, and it was a life changing decision for both of them. What happens if in the future these voices tell them to do something bad?

What if you started hearing voices in your head? And those voices gave you amazingly insightful advice that you followed. At that point should you be locked away in a mental institution? Would you volunteer for it?

Try as I might though I can see no negatives in letting the government by force lock people up for "what if's". As they say better safe than sorry.

What if you started hearing voices in your head? And those voices gave you amazingly insightful advice that you followed. At that point should you be locked away in a mental institution? Would you volunteer for it?

Try as I might though I can see no negatives in letting the government by force lock people up for "what if's". As they say better safe than sorry.

I think that better audio feeds will be the next feature added to Google Glasses.

Then, you will be given a free pair of these (by the government, of course) and will have to pay a tax if you opt out of wearing them. Which is only fair.

It is a good thing that "driverless cars" are close to becoming a reality.

Unfortunately . . . when you are walking--or more accurately riding--around in your alternate reality, the car may drop you off at a nearby Looney Bin at exactly the same time as the voice in your head says something like, "Go on . . . Paradise awaits you on the other side of those doors."

http://prisonphotography.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/mary-ellen-mark-cast-of-one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest-posing-for-their-photograph-on-location-at-the-oregon-state-hospital-salem-oregon-mary-ellen-mark-1974.jpg

All of which reminds me of one of my favorite jokes ever:

There's a guy who lives in Oklahoma. One morning, he hears a voice in his head.
The voice says, ''Quit your job, sell your house, take all your money, and go to Las Vegas.''

He ignores the voice, but later in the day, he hears it again(!):
''Quit your job, sell your house, take all your money, and go to Las Vegas.''

Again, he ignores the voice, but soon he hears the voice every minute of the day.
''Quit your job, sell your house, take all your money, and move to Las Vegas.''

He can't take it anymore. He believes the voice. He quits his job, sells his house, takes all his money, and flies to Las Vegas.
As soon as he steps off the plane, the voice says,
''Go to Caesar's Palace.''

He goes to Caesar's Palace and the voice says,
''Make your way to the roulette tables.''

He goes to the roulette tables and the voice says,
''Put all your money on Red 23.''

He puts all his money on Red 23 . . .
The croupier spins the wheel . . . . . . , . . .
It comes up Black 17.

The voice says,
''Sh!t.''

http://youtu.be/q0HOEtyuIt4

4487 This is a good book to read.

What if you started hearing voices in your head? And those voices gave you amazingly insightful advice that you followed. At that point should you be locked away in a mental institution? Would you volunteer for it?

Try as I might though I can see no negatives in letting the government by force lock people up for "what if's". As they say better safe than sorry.

Let me ask about this voice. Am I able to distinguish between the 'sound' coming form within my own head or does it seem to be coming from an invisible external source. If it has the illusion of coming form outside my head but no sound waves are actually hitting my ears - then yes - I might have a mental disorder. Could I be dangerous? Maybe, it depends if I start doing what the voice tells me to do. If I digress into a state where I think the voice is real and everything else is fake then I am most definitely a danger to myself and others.

As for 'locking people up'. I'm not talking about going around collecting people Chitty Chitty Bang Bang child catcher style and throwing away the key forever. I am talking about identifying the mentally ill any number of ways and getting them the medical attention they need. If they can function with limited supervision they don't need to be detained at all. If they are unable to function productively and are a danger to themselves then they might need to be institutionalized.

Are some of you really afraid the government might pluck you off the street, put you in a straight jacket, and throw you in mental hospital for the rest of your life with no ever knowing you are there? If so, I think you have been watching too many movies. We can't even keep secret government programs secret. Plus, what motivation would the government have to do that? It wouldn't take long until people started noticing their friends, family, neighbors were missing. Besides, what would stop the government form doing that now anyhow?

The only real danger I see is making sure institutionalized people are treated humanely and have sanitary living conditions. Two things that were missing in times passed.

For those too young to remember the child catcher...

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I heard a funny bit on Comedy 24/7 Radio about Jeffery Dahmer's neighbor's dog's voice. First about how Satan taking on the embodiment of a cute little puppy, and then a dog learning to communicate with a human -- it would never have time to tell you to start murdering humans as it would be too busy telling you how to cook bacon-flavored snacks.

Sometimes this "Voices in the Head" thing goes both ways . . .
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