'Tom'* has had a difficult life. His schizophrenic illness has not responded to known medical treatments. Many of them have further harmed his health. For 25 years he has suffered with the ebb & flow of his psychosis intensity. Doctors have tried massive doses, experimental techniques, and have given up. Often Tom has departed from institutions in worse shape than he entered them. Last Fall, Tom's family sought to get a Canadian County court to order him into yet another psychiatric treatment intervention. The family contacted law enforcement repeatedly, and were routinely told that; "Until he poses a threat to others, they cannot act." Tom evidently did finally cross that 'line' and someone filed a criminal complaint, saying Tom made a threatening action. Tom was then arrested and put in the Canadian County Jail. The county has no mental health court. Oklahoma has only 16 counties (out of 77) with a separate preemptive process for the seriously mentally ill. If your loved one gets seriously ill, get them to one of these 16 counties. Those 16 counties have a system set up for the mentally ill whereby a special court process can address a serious mental illness. |
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Sooner Politics
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