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Knowledge or Advice for Iowa Mental Health System

BWRhasnoAC

BWRhasnoAC

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Apr 10, 2013
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Dez Moy Nez
I have a sibling who has two children and luckily the father is still in the picture. My sister in my opinion has not shown she is capable of providing even for herself and is now living on the streets by choice over continuing down the positive path that she knows she should take to get her life together.

My question is how would I go about committing her in the state of Iowa and what do I need to know and understand before I even try to attempt this? Thank you in advance.
 
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BWRhasnoAC said:
I have a sibling who has two children and luckily the father is still in the picture. My sister in my opinion has not shown she is capable of providing even for herself and is now living on the streets by choice over continuing down the positive path that she knows she should take to get her life together.

My question is how would I go about committing her in the state of Iowa and what do I need to know and understand before I even try to attempt this? Thank you in advance.
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Iowacourts.gov resource that applies to your question. I wish you the best as you navigate this trying time

Committments

www.iowacourts.gov www.iowacourts.gov
 
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BWRhasnoAC said:
I have a sibling who has two children and luckily the father is still in the picture. My sister in my opinion has not shown she is capable of providing even for herself and is now living on the streets by choice over continuing down the positive path that she knows she should take to get her life together.

My question is how would I go about committing her in the state of Iowa and what do I need to know and understand before I even try to attempt this? Thank you in advance.
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First concern, where do the children live and are they OK?
 
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First, I am sorry about your sister. I have had some dealings with mental health stuff (including involuntary and voluntary commitment) with former in-laws and it is really, really difficult to go through. It's a marathon, not a sprint. For YOUR mental health, I would recommend approaching from an attitude of "game is already lost" and any positive progress is a miracle win. To be very frank, statistically very few people have good outcomes.

What 8bit put above is solid place to start. You will need a good lawyer, experienced in family law. If you have a mental health professional or therapist already involved, they also can help guide you thru the system and resources available, and probably know some good attys. It won't be free, but it's by the hour so it should be manageable.

One thing I've learned, if you go to commit someone involuntarily, they are there until a psych clears them. But if they decide to voluntarily commmit, they can release themselves anytime. Have to watch for that, especially if drugs or alcohol are involved.

Wish you all the best.
 
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I'm looking at a broader picture of mental health issues, and it's the whole United States. Our nationwide epidemic of mental health issues has spiraled out of control and it's resulted in huge increases in homelessness, suicides and crime. It's not a new problem either, it's been going downhill for more than a hundred years. So the blame is not on just one person or just one state. It's nationwide and needs to be seriously addressed.
 
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CascadeClone said:
First, I am sorry about your sister. I have had some dealings with mental health stuff (including involuntary and voluntary commitment) with former in-laws and it is really, really difficult to go through. It's a marathon, not a sprint. For YOUR mental health, I would recommend approaching from an attitude of "game is already lost" and any positive progress is a miracle win. To be very frank, statistically very few people have good outcomes.

What 8bit put above is solid place to start. You will need a good lawyer, experienced in family law. If you have a mental health professional or therapist already involved, they also can help guide you thru the system and resources available, and probably know some good attys. It won't be free, but it's by the hour so it should be manageable.

One thing I've learned, if you go to commit someone involuntarily, they are there until a psych clears them. But if they decide to voluntarily commmit, they can release themselves anytime. Have to watch for that, especially if drugs or alcohol are involved.

Wish you all the best.
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My parents actually tried once but it's up to the judge apparently. They gave her a psych eval and she passed. She was a CNA for years before it got out of control and she knows how to slip through the system. I want her to get a real psychological evaluation but that takes weeks and requires interviewing family members. My sister likely will not want to do this.
 
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CascadeClone said:
First, I am sorry about your sister. I have had some dealings with mental health stuff (including involuntary and voluntary commitment) with former in-laws and it is really, really difficult to go through. It's a marathon, not a sprint. For YOUR mental health, I would recommend approaching from an attitude of "game is already lost" and any positive progress is a miracle win. To be very frank, statistically very few people have good outcomes.

What 8bit put above is solid place to start. You will need a good lawyer, experienced in family law. If you have a mental health professional or therapist already involved, they also can help guide you thru the system and resources available, and probably know some good attys. It won't be free, but it's by the hour so it should be manageable.

One thing I've learned, if you go to commit someone involuntarily, they are there until a psych clears them. But if they decide to voluntarily commmit, they can release themselves anytime. Have to watch for that, especially if drugs or alcohol are involved.

Wish you all the best.
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You're a faster typist than I am! I agree, as my wife and I had to go through the whole mental health system, top to bottom, for a relative. And yes, we did accomplish commitment and treatment but it was a long, hard process. Thankfully, that person is stabilized although on disability and my wife has guardianship.

I do thank some Polk County and State Health Officials, doctors, lawyers and law enforcement who pressed the right buttons and pulled the right strings for us in order to get the help that was needed. We will be forever grateful to those persons, they are angels. I wish good luck to BWRhasnoAC in this endeavor.
 
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aauummm said:
You're a faster typist than I am! I agree, as my wife and I had to go through the whole mental health system for a relative. And yes, we did accomplish commitment and treatment but it was a long, hard process. Thankfully, that person is stabilized although on disability and my wife has guardianship. I do thank some Polk County and State Health Officials, doctors and law enforcement who pressed the right buttons and pulled the right strings for us in order to get the help that was needed. We will be forever grateful to those persons, they are angels.
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I think my sister knows there's something fundamentally wrong with her and she knows the statistics aren't good for what could be. I suspect she is schizophrenic.

She likes to blame drugs but I'm 99% sure she uses because she's mentally ill not the other way around, but that is how she leverages her sanity in these evaluations. She just finished her 7th rehab and was living at home with my parents, so clean beyond her prescriptions. She's very clearly incapable of taking care of herself and delusional.
 
BWRhasnoAC said:
I think my sister knows there's something fundamentally wrong with her and she knows the statistics aren't good for what could be. I suspect she is schizophrenic.

She likes to blame drugs but I'm 99% sure she uses because she's mentally ill not the other way around, but that is how she leverages her sanity in these evaluations. She just finished her 7th rehab and was living at home with my parents, so clean beyond her prescriptions. She's very clearly incapable of taking care of herself and delusional.
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I feel for you man. We were dealing with a relative of my wife's with schizoaffective disorder and it's very hard to get a diagnosis for it that the health care system will recognize and approve treatment for it. This person never had used drugs or been in any accident.
 
aauummm said:
I feel for you man. We were dealing with a relative of my wife's with schizoaffective disorder and it's very hard to get a diagnosis for it that the health care system will recognize and approve treatment for it. This person never had used drugs or been in any accident.
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My parents are broken because of it and I think they lack the fortitude and possibly money to actually follow through with a commitment or at least one that would be within the realm of actual possibility.

We've been dealing with this for over 20 years and it just feels like it's as bad as it's ever been and if she's ever going to actually be a part of her children's lives this is probably it. I also would like to make an effort before she's found dead in a ditch so that I can at least know that I did everything I could.
 
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BWRhasnoAC said:
My parents are broken because of it and I think they lack the fortitude and possibly money to actually follow through with a commitment or at least one that would be within the realm of actual possibility.

We've been dealing with this for over 20 years and it just feels like it's as bad as it's ever been and if she's ever going to actually be a part of her children's lives this is probably it. I also would like to make an effort before she's found dead in a ditch so that I can at least know that I did everything I could.
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Has she ever threatened to harm herself or others?
 
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