Committable

In this episode Committable producers Jesse Mangan and Jim McQuaid look at Steadman et al. 2001, a Randomized Controlled Trial evaluating the outcomes of an Involuntary Outpatient Commitments (also called AOT) pilot program at Bellevue hospital. Short answer, this study found that IOC is not associated with any significant benefits. Longer answer, the IOC court order may actually have been associa...

In this episode Committable producers Jesse Mangan and Jim McQuaid follow up on their review of the Swartz et al. 1999 study and discuss some of the ways in which the findings of that study are misrepresented. They focus on claims made by AOT advocate Eric Smith and how narratives and talking points can become intermingled with perceptions of research. Audio clips used in this episode come from th...

In this episode Committable producers Jesse Mangan and Jim McQuaid look at Swartz et al. 1999, a Randomized Controlled Trial evaluating whether or not Involuntary Outpatient Commitments (also called AOT) can reduce hospitalization. Short answer, this study found that the Involuntary Outpatient Commitment court order is not associated with a reduction in hospitalizations. Longer answer, then resear...

In this episode I speak with attorney Elizabeth Rich about her experiences navigating mental health laws in Wisconsin. Elizabeth brings a multifaceted perspective to her work weaving together experience as an attorney, an advocate, and as a parent of someone who was directly impacted by these systems. Andrew’s V.O.I.C.E: www.andrewsvoice.org

In this series I look at Peer Respites throughout the United States and try to better understand how this model of care provides safe, noncarceral opportunities for people experiencing distress. And in this episode I speak with Jason Robison, Chief Program Officer for SHARE! The Self-Help and Recovery Exchange. We talk about the SHARE! Recovery Retreat, as well as a broader discussion about Jason’...

In this episode I reunite with Leah Harris to talk about the concept of Forcewashing, a term that Leah coined in an article about an Involuntary Outpatient Commitment bill currently being considered in Massachusetts. Leah Harris: https://truthout.org/articles/massachusetts-advocates-resist-dystopian-involuntary-outpatient-commitment-bill/ E. Fuller Torrey Interview: youtube.com/watch?si=DPAuc_viyb...

In this episode I speak with Fern, Director of the Wild Ivy Social Justice Network. We talk about concerns related to an involuntary outpatient commitment bill currently before the Massachusetts legislature, as well as some of the non-carceral alternatives that currently exist in that state. Wild Ivy Social Justice Network: https://wildfloweralliance.org/wild-ivy/  

In this episode I speak with Steve Schwartz, Special Counsel at the Center for Public Representation. We talk about an AOT bill currently working its way through the Massachusetts legislature and break down some of the more concerning aspects of the MA bill specifically, as well as questions and concerns related to the implementation of other outpatient commitment laws throughout the country. Cent...

In this series I work with Leah Harris to look at Assisted Outpatient Treatment laws throughout the United States. Assisted Outpatient Treatment, often referred to as AOT, is a form of involuntary outpatient commitment that leverages the use of a court order to coerce people into compliance. Leah Harris: https://truthout.org/articles/massachusetts-advocates-resist-dystopian-involuntary-outpatient-...

In this episode I speak with Emily Harvey, Co-Legal Director of Disability Law Colorado. We talk about a recent report from DLC that looks at the Southern Peaks Regional Treatment Center, a psychiatric residential youth facility that was found to have alarmingly high reported incidents of restraint. Disability Law Colorado: https://disabilitylawco.org/ SPRTC Report: https://disabilitylawco.org/sit...

In this episode I speak with Mark Joyce from Disability Rights Maine about the importance of Protection and Advocacy Organizations and how DRM works in collaboration with their PAIMI Advisory Council. We also talk about a deeply concerning gap in Maine law that allows for prolonged and potentially indefinite detention in an emergency department. This type of unintentional due process deficiency ex...

In this episode I speak with Ruth Lowenkron, Director of the Disability Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. We talk about the basic principles of due process in relation to involuntary hospitalizations as well as concerns about the ongoing expansion of commitment laws in New York. NYLPI: https://www.nylpi.org/ NYLPI report on Kendra’s Law: https://www.nylpi.org/nylpi-relea...

As a person with a history of psychiatric disabilities, involuntary hospitalizations and a civil commitment, I know that I will always be vulnerable to the carceral whims of legislators. I am forever trapped in the trauma of my most desperate moment, a point in time where the state declared that I was mentally unfit to be free. And I will forever fear how easy it would be for someone to decide tha...

In this episode I speak with Gwen Orlowski, Executive Director of Disability Rights New Jersey. We discuss the statutory authorities given to all P&A organizations as well as the specific work that DRNJ has been engaged in. Work that includes investigations into abuse and neglect in nursing homes, advocacy around the state’s expansion of initial involuntary hospitalizations from 72 hours to 14...

Disability Rights California recently released a report titled Let Me Go: Excessive Restraint of Patients at College Hospital. This report provides an important example of why we need Protection & Advocacy organizations in place, and properly funded, to monitor and investigate abuse and neglect. So to learn more about the report and the work that DRC is doing I spoke with Liz Logsdon and Rober...

Disability Rights North Carolina recently released a report titled “Involuntary Commitment in NC: Overused, Misused, and Harmful”. This report lays out observations and recommendations that are the result of years of monitoring a broken system. It includes tragic stories, alarming trends, and practices that resonated with my own experiences with involuntary hospitalization and commitment. To learn...

The tragedies uncovered at Willowbrook State School helped bring visibility to the types of horrors that can be inflicted upon vulnerable people when the the authority of institutions goes unchecked. The Protection & Advocacy system was forged out of this type of exposure and while many things have changed since Willowbrook, the P&A system is just as necessary now as it was then. So when I...

In this episode I speak with advocates and attorneys from Disability Rights Center New Hampshire. We spoke broadly about the work they do as New Hampshire's Protection & Advocacy organization but we also spoke in detail about a tremendously concerning practice called "conditional discharge". With a conditional discharge a person who has been committed to a mental health facility can be forced...

When a leaked HHS budget proposal suggested that Protection & Advocacy organizations might experience significant reductions to their federal funding, it frightened me. I have been involuntarily detained in psychiatric facilities, and although it has been over 20 years since I went through those experiences I am still haunted by them. The trauma caused when someone is forced into these systems...

In this episode of Committable Concepts we talk about anosognosia. Episode Transcript: sensiblenonsense.squarespace.com/committable-conceptstranscripts/2024/9/21/committable-concepts-anosognosia-transcript Committable is produced by Michelle Stockman, Jim McQuaid and Jesse Mangan. https://sensiblenonsense.squarespace.com/committable

In this episode of Committable Concepts we talk about voluntary hospitalizations. Episode Transcript: sensiblenonsense.squarespace.com/committable-conceptstranscripts/2024/9/13/committable-concepts-voluntary Committable is produced by Michelle Stockman, Jim McQuaid and Jesse Mangan. https://sensiblenonsense.squarespace.com/committable

In this episode of Committable Concepts we talk about the term antipsychiatry. Episode Transcript: sensiblenonsense.squarespace.com/committable-conceptstranscripts/2024/9/7/committable-concepts-anti-psychiatry-transcript Committable is produced by Michelle Stockman, Jim McQuaid and Jesse Mangan. https://sensiblenonsense.squarespace.com/committable

In this episode we interview Ami Kachalia from ACLU of New Jersey and Bren Pramanik from Disability Rights New Jersey about mental health laws in New Jersey. Ami Kachalia: https://www.aclu-nj.org/en/biographies/ami-kachalia Bren Pramanik: https://disabilityrightsnj.org/staff-of-drnj/ Episode Transcript: sensiblenonsense.squarespace.com/committables3-transcripts/2024/5/21/s3-new-jersey Committable...

In this episode of Committable Concepts we talk about Assisted Outpatient Treatment, also known as AOT. Episode Transcript: sensiblenonsense.squarespace.com/committable-conceptstranscripts/2024/5/13/committable-concepts-aot-transcript Committable is produced by Michelle Stockman, Jim McQuaid and Jesse Mangan. https://sensiblenonsense.squarespace.com/committable  

Committable Concepts is a new series from the Committable podcast and with each episode of this series we are going to attempt to explain a concept related to the commitment process in three minutes or less. Episode Transcript: sensiblenonsense.squarespace.com/committable-conceptstranscripts/2024/5/13/committable-concepts-teasertranscript Committable is produced by Michelle Stockman, Jim McQuaid a...