I am looking for pro-bono legal advice to let me know what my options are with a mentally ill relative who has stopped taking her medication and who, I believe is a danger to herself. Any suggestions on who I could contact? Thank you so much for your help.|||also go to NAMI.org and find a local chapter, that organization is primarily for relatives and friends of those with mental illnesses. Also, you can call social services for your county and find a mental health social worker. In my state, MN, I am legally entitled to a social worker, and my case manager also handled commitments occasionally. It was a bone of contention of us sometimes, because there are people who are committed improperly, ***and the consequences are about the same as a felony conviction. It will be on your record forever, you will lose some rights forever, the police will know about you forever, and you don't get the same legal protections that a criminal does****
Your relative may never speak to you again. You should try to talk her into treatment first, the next step would be a 72 hour hold, which does not require any legal action. I hope everything goes OK, but it would be better to get her to go back to the doc. Maybe her pills are making her fat or sick to the stomach or stupid, these pills are REALLY noxious. I hate taking them, because I get all of the above, and I feel I am taking them to make everyone else happy, because I am in hell whether I take them or not (still have the internal anguish, unabated). Sooooooo maybe she can be reasoned with. Some people with mental illness can't tell they are getting bad, tho, that's why the other options are still there, nowadays. Good luck to you, I know a lot of mentally ill people because I help run a social club for people with bipolar and schizophrenia, and most of them would be very upset about a commitment. Your relative will not thank you, but pursuing a commitment may be a moral obligation for you, given the circumstances.
Good luck to you and your relative!|||Maybe these people can help you with your problem. Maybe they can refer you to somewhere else.
"Greater Boston Legal Services" has free clinics on certain days. Their address is:
197 Friend St.
Boston, MA It is near Haymarket Station on the MBTA
Phone: 617 371-1234|||Go here...
http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/prob鈥?/a>
And click on Massachusetts.|||Free in the USA, Ha Ha Ha. Wrong cuntery try Britten|||Websites like FindLaw, LawGuru are some of the free legal advice resources available. More information at http://www.uelp.org/freelegal.html
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