It's not easy to obtain an order for involuntary commitment. The biggest obstacle is that the severity of one's mental illness isn't always obvious to those outside of the individual's circle of close friends and family. Even if reports are made, if a medical professional doesn't see any sign of potentially harmful behavior, they probably won't recommend an involuntary hold unless there's some kind of concrete proof of the behavior. And, unfortunately... some people are very good at hiding their mental illness when they want to.
It's really the worst kind of Catch 22 -- because while it can be detrimental to the lives of others in situations such as this, it also protects individuals who honestly don't need to be there. Once upon a time (and not that long ago), people were locked up in rubber rooms at state mental hospitals and forcibly given electric shock therapy... and not all of those people were mentally ill.
It's a very slippery slope.
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