Mandate Treatment for those suffering a Mental Illness

As an outreach worker, I often look for those who are alone. As I approached him, he looked me in the eye as we spoke. I asked him his name and he told me it was Paul (not his real name). We talked for about an hour and in that time, I assessed him as having a severe mental illness.

I recognized that Paul was having a mental health crisis and offered to take him to the county crisis center. He initially agreed, but once we got there, he said he is not ready yet to talk to them. Some would view that as a failed attempt, but I know otherwise. He now knows where to go should he agree to accepting help from the crisis center.

I see severe mental illness weekly and these are homeless individuals who literally do not have the skillset to live alone in an apartment. We as a State are in desperate need of help for our mentally ill unsheltered folks. Honestly, it would be far more compassionate to place the suffering individuals in a mental health facility than it is to let them fend for themselves on the streets.

Many of the people I serve do have a significant mental health condition, though it goes untreated and most people self-medicate with alcohol and/or drugs. I think most of us have seen them; people on the streets yelling and acting in a bizarre manner. This is not the society that we want, right? So, we need to start doing something different.

I believe in mandated treatment for those whose mental illness is so severe that it caused their homelessness. Yes, perhaps against their will. We do not have the adequate services needed to take on the task of housing our mentally ill first, but it certainly should be a priority.