ServiceNet and Roger's Orders

I'm currently working on a post about the history of mental health and how it relates to the opening of state hospitals, however I ended up participating in a fundraiser for a mental health service center in Northampton this weekend, and wanted to share the information.

Their website


This is a fantastic example of programs that I feel would be helpful throughout the US. They provide affordable mental health care, counciling and other services to those most in need. They also act as a homeless shelter among other things. Great work.

But now to my segway:


While exploring their site, I came across a term I had never heard of, "Roger's Orders." in this article on forced medication


The only real concrete information I could get right away by googling the subject was at this link

It describes that the term came from a legal case regarding the forced medication of an institutionalized patient. It currently describes a government issued mandate requiring a patient takes his or her medication during outpatient treatment. It was supposed to only be applied to extreme cases, but of late has become more commonly used with little need basis.

There are many people that feel this violates basic human rights, and also demonstrates a gross misunderstanding of drugs in general. Too many people see the drugs as a miricle cure, forgetting that the side-effects can be debilitating and life-altering. When representing patients, or when judging cases, many enter with the idea that "if medicated, the patient would know it was best for him." and therefore the patient isn't treated seriously.

While such laws can be deemed necessary on some level, the practice of these laws leaves something to be desired.

A question that one must ask is, at what point can someone no longer give consent to what happens to their body? At what point is someone too ill to have a say? If someone is living on the streets, does the government have the right to step in and force-medicate on the presumption that they are making the person "less dangerous?" (Especially since, there really isn't an impartial party that can make a good argument as to what constitutes "dangerous enough" to trump the human right of judging what's best for their body?)

I thought it was an interesting tangent.

Comments/Questions/Concerns

Just to note, comments, discussion, questions, etc. are welcome. There is a space for comments at the bottom of each entry. At the moment, all comments are public, so please don't post anything you don't want read or commented on by others. Please keep things respectful and courteous, especially since the topics within can be sensitive to some folk.

I may not answer every question addressed within the comments. Sometimes I either don't know the answer or it doesn't fit within the scope of my project and I'm not sure what to say. Other times I'm very busy and don't have time. Also 0thers may also answer your question within the comments.

Quick Disclaimer:
If I feel something could be percieved as offensive I may moderate comments, only if I find the results to be deconstructive.

The Project (and a little History)

Northampton MA is a quiet little town not far from the University of MA Amherst. It is famous for its arts, among other things, and is considered "quintessential New England" by many books.


However, outside of the sunny streets and the artistic atmosphere downtown there lies the ruins of what was once one of the largest assylums on the East Coast. Opened in 1856, it was originally built to house 250 patients. Wings, and additions were made over the years, and at its peak it held over 2500 people.




Like most assylums of it's time, the people brought there were subjected to all sorts of "treatments," however it cleaned up as standards of psychological practice became for stringent. After a number of legal battles, etc. the hospital closed in 1993. According to rumor, they opened the doors and just let the patients go.



As of 2005 the buildings were demolished.

Interestingly enough, even though this hospitol was very large and important in its own right, it's not even mentioned in the brief history of Northampton on their website:
http://www.noho.com/townhistory.html

This project is a discussion about the effects of the asylum on the community, how mental health treatment relates to homelessness and what you can do to help. I am not an expert and have a lot to learn myself, so my goal is to educate other people as I educate myself. Aside from the above, which is easily found while googling for info, I want to learn about how the public has felt about the hospitol through the years. How it shut down, why it was shut down, what went on there, and how it affected the local community. I am also going to discuss the public image of mental health and it's treatment and why a disproportionate number of homeless are affected. Lastly: What can be done? How can we make treatment, safe, effective, and affordable with a realiable source available for those in need who can't afford insurance?

I feel strongly that by looking at our history we can identify where some current problems have stemmed from.

In the end, by my studying my own community I hope that someone will walk away with an appreciation that these issues are not just something in a book, taught in a class or that these things just affect "other people." This is real, and we can not only see it with our own eyes, but if we take it upon ourselves to educate each other than we may even be able to make a difference.

NOTES:
Both photos © www.opacity.us (allowed under their license for non-profit, educational use)