Treatment Advocacy Center

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The Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) is a U.S. non-profit organization based in Arlington, Virginia, originally announced as the NAMI Treatment Action Centre in 1997. [1] [2] The TAC was subsequently directed by psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey and identifies its mission as "dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness". [3] The organization is most well-known for proposed laws, policies, and practices regarding legally compelled outpatient services or outpatient commitment for people diagnosed with mental illness (also known as assisted outpatient treatment, AOT [4] ). The organization identifies its other key issues as "anosognosia, consequences of non-treatment, criminalization of mental illness, psychiatric bed shortages, public service costs, violence and mental illness". [5] Advocates for mental health have criticized TAC for endorsing coercion and forced treatment.

Contents

History

Although according to the TAC website, E. Fuller Torrey founded the Treatment Advocacy Center in 1998 as an offshoot of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), other sources indicate that the original name was the NAMI Treatment Action Center. [6] Laurie Flynn, the NAMI director at the time, stated in a press release, "It's a national disgrace that, in this age of remarkable progress in brain research and treatment, so many individuals are left out in the cold". [7] TAC received initial financial support from Theodore and Vada Stanley, founders of the Stanley Medical Research Institute; TAC was founded as an affiliate organization with a separate executive director and board. The organization operates with funding from the affiliated Stanley Medical Research Institute, a non-profit organization which provides funding for research into bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in the United States. Torrey is currently a member of the Treatment Advocacy Center's board and is executive director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute. The relationship between Torrey and NAMI seemed to sour according to sources, [8] with Torrey being disinvited from NAMI's national convention in 2012 after advocates protested his TAC involvement and promotion of outpatient commitment.

Organization

Areas of focus

The Treatment Advocacy Center activities and projects include:

Funding

Donors to the Treatment Advocacy Center include David Baszucki and National Life Group. [9] [10]

Controversy

TAC's major focus on legally mandated treatment is opposed by other advocacy groups. The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law in a statement on forced treatment states "not only is forced treatment a serious rights violation, it is counterproductive. Fear of being deprived of autonomy discourages people from seeking care. Coercion undermines therapeutic relationships and long-term treatment." [11] Daniel Fischer, founder of National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, described outpatient commitment as "a slippery slope" back to the kind of mass institutionalization seen in the 1940s and '50s". [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

Involuntary commitment, civil commitment, or involuntary hospitalization/hospitalisation is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qualified person to have symptoms of severe mental disorder is detained in a psychiatric hospital (inpatient) where they can be treated involuntarily. This treatment may involve the administration of psychoactive drugs, including involuntary administration. In many jurisdictions, people diagnosed with mental health disorders can also be forced to undergo treatment while in the community; this is sometimes referred to as outpatient commitment and shares legal processes with commitment.

Outpatient commitment—also called assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) or community treatment orders (CTO)—refers to a civil court procedure wherein a legal process orders an individual diagnosed with a severe mental disorder to adhere to an outpatient treatment plan designed to prevent further deterioration or recurrence that is harmful to themselves or others.

Edwin Fuller Torrey, is an American psychiatrist and schizophrenia researcher. He is associate director of research at the Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI) and founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC), a nonprofit organization whose principal activity is promoting the passage and implementation of outpatient commitment laws and civil commitment laws and standards in individual states that allow people diagnosed with severe mental illness to be involuntarily hospitalized and treated throughout the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Alliance on Mental Illness</span> American nonprofit organization

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is a United States-based nonprofit organization originally founded as a grassroots group by family members of people diagnosed with mental illness. NAMI identifies its mission as "providing advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives" and its vision as "a world where all people affected by mental illness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares". NAMI offers classes and trainings for people living with mental illnesses, their families, community members, and professionals, including what is termed psychoeducation, or education about mental illness. NAMI holds regular events which combine fundraising for the organization and education, including Mental Illness Awareness Week and NAMIWalks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mental health law</span>

Mental health law includes a wide variety of legal topics and pertain to people with a diagnosis or possible diagnosis of a mental health condition, and to those involved in managing or treating such people. Laws that relate to mental health include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voluntary commitment</span> Choosing to admit oneself to a psychiatric hospital

Voluntary commitment is the act or practice of choosing to admit oneself to a psychiatric hospital, or other mental health facility. Unlike in involuntary commitment, the person is free to leave the hospital against medical advice, though there may be a requirement of a period of notice or that the leaving take place during daylight hours. In some jurisdictions, a distinction is drawn between formal and informal voluntary commitment, and this may have an effect on how much notice the individual must give before leaving the hospital. This period may be used for the hospital to use involuntary commitment procedures against the patient. People with mental illness can write psychiatric advance directives in which they can, in advance, consent to voluntary admission to a hospital and thus avoid involuntary commitment.

The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health was established by U.S. President George W. Bush through Executive Order 13263 on April 29, 2002 to conduct a comprehensive study of the U.S. mental health service delivery system and make recommendations based on its findings. The commission has been touted as part of his commitment to eliminate inequality for Americans with disabilities.

Laura's Law is a California state law that allows for court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment. To qualify for the program, the person must have a serious mental illness plus a recent history of psychiatric hospitalizations, jailings or acts, threats or attempts of serious violent behavior towards self or others. A complete functional outline of the legal procedures and safeguards within Laura's Law has been prepared by NAMI San Mateo.

Involuntary treatment refers to medical treatment undertaken without the consent of the person being treated. Involuntary treatment is permitted by law in some countries when overseen by the judiciary through court orders; other countries defer directly to the medical opinions of doctors.

Kendra's Law, effective since November 1999, is a New York State law concerning involuntary outpatient commitment also known as assisted outpatient treatment. It grants judges the authority to issue orders that require people who meet certain criteria to regularly undergo psychiatric treatment. Failure to comply could result in commitment for up to 72 hours. Kendra's Law does not mandate that patients be forced to take medication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Community Mental Health Act</span> 1963 American law

The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 (CMHA) was an act to provide federal funding for community mental health centers and research facilities in the United States. This legislation was passed as part of John F. Kennedy's New Frontier. It led to considerable deinstitutionalization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deinstitutionalisation</span> Replacement of psychiatric hospitals

Deinstitutionalisation is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health services for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. In the late 20th century, it led to the closure of many psychiatric hospitals, as patients were increasingly cared for at home, in halfway houses and clinics, in regular hospitals, or not at all.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services</span>

The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) is an agency of the Government of Oklahoma responsible for providing public health services relating to mental illness and substance abuse.

Patient advocacy is a process in health care concerned with advocacy for patients, survivors, and caregivers. The patient advocate may be an individual or an organization, concerned with healthcare standards or with one specific group of disorders. The terms patient advocate and patient advocacy can refer both to individual advocates providing services that organizations also provide, and to organizations whose functions extend to individual patients. Some patient advocates are independent and some work for the organizations that are directly responsible for the patient's care.

The psychiatric survivors movement is a diverse association of individuals who either currently access mental health services, or who have experienced interventions by psychiatry they consider unhelpful, harmful, abusive or illegal.

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is a national legal-advocacy organization representing people with mental disabilities in the United States. Originally known as The Mental Health Law Project, the Center was founded as a national public-interest organization in 1972 by a group of specialized attorneys and mental disability professionals who were working to help the court define a constitutional right to treatment in terms of specific standards for services and protections. In 1993, the organization changed its name to the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law to honor the legacy of Judge David L. Bazelon, whose decisions as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had pioneered the field of mental health law.

A Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) is a police mental health collaborative program found in North America. The term "CIT" is often used to describe both a program and a training in law enforcement to help guide interactions between law enforcement and those living with a mental illness.

Services for mental health disorders provide treatment, support, or advocacy to people who have psychiatric illnesses. These may include medical, behavioral, social, and legal services.

People with mental illnesses are over-represented in jail and prison populations in the United States relative to the general population.

The United States has experienced two waves of deinstitutionalization, the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health services for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability.

References

  1. "Legal Advocacy Project Established to End Barriers to Care for Millions | NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness".
  2. "DJ Jaffe Article". www.schizophrenia.com.
  3. "Treatment Advocacy Center" . Retrieved 14 April 2019.
  4. Publications, Harvard Health. "Involuntary outpatient commitment - Harvard Health". Harvard Health. Retrieved 2017-08-13.
  5. "Key Issues".
  6. "Legal Advocacy Project Established to End Barriers to Care for Millions | NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness".
  7. "Legal Advocacy Project Established to End Barriers to Care for Millions | NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness".
  8. "The Changing Face of NAMI". 2013-03-18.
  9. Dailey, Lisa; Torrey, E. Fuller; Knable, Michael. "2020 Impact Report" (PDF). Treatment Advocacy Center. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2023-09-09.
  10. Dailey, Lisa; Knable, Michael; Torrey, E. Fuller. "2021 Annual Report" (PDF). Treatment Advocacy Center. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2023-09-09.
  11. "Forced Treatment". Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. 2017-07-18. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  12. "Should Mentally Ill People Be Forced Into Treatment?". Time Magazine. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2019.