Expansive Laws Without Accountability
A discussion with Jesse Mangan on my reasons for creating PsychForce Report and the need for more oversight of involuntary commitment practices
I’ve been taking a little downtime this past week, and so it seemed like a good time for this video chat between me and Jesse Mangan. In the 24-minute video, we discuss the beginnings of my interests in civil commitment, my growing realization of the sheer scope of how mental health laws are being used across society, and some of the driving reasons for the launch of PsychForce Report. And Jesse shares a little of his story and views, too.
Jesse Mangan is the host of the podcast Committable. In season one, he relates his own experiences of involuntary commitment as he tries to better understand what really happened and why through interviews with diverse experts. In subsequent seasons, he has been delving into commitment laws and practices in the U.S., state by state.
And this is relevant because, in our discussion, we both conclude the evidence is clear that, as broad and powerful as civil commitment laws are in the U.S. and Canada and many other countries, nevertheless mental health practitioners — and not uncommonly judges and tribunals, too — routinely act outside these laws with impunity. In conjunction with other political developments going on, especially in America, this reality is becoming more dangerous all the time.
Indeed, I’ll be reporting soon on several significant new investigations of routinely illegal uses of psychiatric incarceration powers. In the meantime, here’s the video chat:
I’m hoping to bring Jesse Mangan back (and hopefully some guests, too) for more discussions about issues being covered in PsychForce Report. This will also provide a different way to access content for people who might not have the time, inclination, or ability to read a lot. So, if you appreciate this kind of content, please let me know!
I’ve heard that there can be difficulties sharing these posts on social media, even when I’ve made them open to everyone. So from now on I’ll also include the links to the posts for easy re-posting elsewhere. Here’s a direct link to this post: https://robwipond.substack.com/p/expansive-laws-without-accountability
Thank you for this superb interview/conversation. The questions, and responses, are so articulate, insightful, comprehensive, thought provoking, and informative. I really appreciate your respectful, humane, relatable approach to subject matter that can feel very painful, and overwhelming. Giving voice to the real, lived experiences of so many of us - and ending the shamed, disempowered silence, and lies that allow these systems to go unchecked.
I appreciated this interview. I was talking with someone about why this is so complex of a topic and yet your book is able to shed light at how human response to these treatments is essential to understanding it all. And this interview puts it succinctly in that we are influenced by so many things, both as individuals, and a society. I think we often want to simplify and look at things within a bubble of experience. And while that may be necessary for some things, for such topics like these, you can't separate the systemic, cultural, and societal forces that run through every part of it.