Hattie, that is what I just don’t get. I thought if there was a declaration of “danger to himself and others” then the patient had to undergo treatment inside a mental health facility. But somehow this just did not happen.
All we hear is that he was diagnosed with “depression” and given anti-depressants. Could there be an error in the reporting? Or more than one incident (one which was “danger to himself and others” and one which resulted in a diagnosis of depression)and the press is mixing it all up?
Someone made a decision to treat him outpatient, even knowing those facts. Today, this is what happens frequently. Maybe because of helath insurance or lack thereof, maybe political correctness since he was Korean, maybe someone just didn't care. Honestly I believe even twenty years ago he would have been treated. He probably didn't even take any meds they gave him and it does not appear anyone followed up with any doctor visits.
He's completely out of reality on that video and paranoid, ideas of persecution on and on.
When they are intervened, or sent for eval, they give them a choice. Either commit yourself for a course of treatment or you will be involuntarily committed, which goes on your record.
If they cooperate, the first consult is to diagnose the condition and prescribed medication. If the patient respond well or appears to respond well, they turn them loose with a followup appointment.
All this can happen in 3-5 days, and they don;t have a mechanism to make the patient return. That explains why he was able to buy a gun, and why he sought no more treatment after his initial diagnoses.
We once incarcerated them in boobie hatches, or nut houses, as we affectionately called them. The treatments were lacking then and they rotted in these places. They were all eventually closed.
Right now, it's safe to say that there are thousands of time bombs walking around, and nobody knows when or if they will go off.
Something else needs to be done, to protect society, but I'm not sure if we can do it. We still have not addressed AIDS.
It could be surmised that this is the price for living in a free society.
VA, like most states has two levels of commitment. The first is a “Temporary Order for Dentention” which is for observation/evaluation. This is what Cho had. He was detained, evaluated, given a prescription, ordered to outpatient treatment and released.
Had he presented a more clear danger to himself or others they might have gone to the 2nd level of involuntary commitment.
That didn’t happen. Had he had an actual criminal record say from actual stalking charges having been filed or arson charges filed, his heinous act may have been averted.
But maybe not. The best way to protect ourselves and our civil rights is to pack heat and take personal self defense as both a right and a responsibility very seriously.
Government cannot protect us from the insane without seriously eroding the civil rights of average citizens. I do not recommend tightening up mental health laws because they are incredibly easy to abuse by those in power.