Biography/Memoir

Prison for forced addiction treatment? A parent’s ‘last resort’ has consequences

“I was punished for not eating,” Sean told us. “That’s how I ended up in the hole. If you refuse your tray, they consider it a behavioral issue. I didn’t know that — I was just sick.”

Sean had begged his mother in court that day not to go that route. He was being sent to a program, he told her, where he would be locked up and not allowed to continue taking the medication that was helping him with his addiction — methadone … Sean [eventually] killed himself. His mother says that after that stint in civil commitment, [based on a law that allows a family member, physician or police officer to ask the courts to involuntarily commit someone to substance use treatment] Sean could no longer hold a job. He ended up in a psychiatric hospital and was later jailed on charges of trying to break into a house. Robin believes being locked up for addiction treatment contributed to his suicide. “I think that his trauma was very much triggered by him being in the cell” at the local jail, she says. “And he just felt like he couldn’t take it anymore.”

Original Article (NPR):
Prison for forced addiction treatment? A parent’s ‘last resort’ has consequences
Artwork Fair Use: Liz Sullivan

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