Bipolar Depression

My son, now 21, had been diagnose wtih bipolar ... but elected to stop medication/treatment. He assumed he was getting much better, going to college, playing hockey, and recently very excited about completing his studies.
However, on way back from hockey practice late at night, he was speeding back home, and panicked when finally noticing flashing lights ... on home street ... about 1 block from home ... and unaware, engaged into side street ... bumped into a curb a few hundred feet later and ... realized, stopped, etc... Now he faces a felony charge .... and we do not know how to handle situation ... Any one for advice/help ... thanks in advance.

Hamid

I know bipolar is often not a mitgating factor. Bipolar people get in trouble a lot. If he is using a public defender - check if the public defender in your area has a mental health division.

Even if you hospitalize him now, he would need to face the charges when he gets out. But I would check with a lawyer if going into a hospital would help or if it would look like an obvious ploy.

Here is some research that I did I dont know how much this will help but california is making laws dealing with the mentally ill and having non violent felony charges.



Because there are multiple causes underlying the criminalization problem, changes must occur on many levels. Of paramount importance is reform of civil commitment law. A shift of commitment criteria to focus on "need for treatment" would allow community mental health programs to provide medical care to patients who cannot make rational decisions for themselves because of their inability to recognize their mental illness. Many states have determined that their current mental health law is flawed and are striving to make needed changes. California recently passed legislation allowing a patient’s history to be considered in decisions to continue involuntary treatment. A bill currently being considered in California’s legislature would allow involuntary hospitalization of patients likely to deteriorate without treatment, which is a commitment criterion several other states have already implemented. Utah, Kansas, and Iowa have mental health laws that incorporate a judicial determination of competence to make treatment decision as part of the civil commitment process. If a patient is unable to rationally weigh the costs and benefits of treatment, their physician makes treatment decisions for them until their competence is restored (32). Other jurisdictions also utilize treatment-oriented approaches. In 1983, England passed the Mental Health Act, which focuses on providing for the "health and safety" of patients and avoids multiple judicial hearings (33).

Further, mentally ill offenders could have their mental illness addressed though the criminal justice system in order to prevent recidivism. Mental health courts can be used to sentence treatment in lieu of a prison or jail sentence. Parole and probation clinics need to have more resources to effectively treat dually diagnosed, noncompliant patients. If different mental health laws and treatment approaches are combined with increased funding for community mental health systems, the "criminalization of the mentally ill" will decline, reducing societal costs but more importantly providing the structured community treatment that patients and their families need. The growth in alternative courts has been spurred by research that has proved such courts' effectiveness. In fact, a 2000 California law that requires judges to offer nonviolent offenders substance abuse or mental health treatment instead of prison time is saving the state up to $18 million a year, according to a report by the Judicial Council of California's Advisory Committee on Collaborative Justice.

Moreover, California's program reduced recidivism: Arrest rates for participants who completed the program declined by 85 percent, conviction rates by 77 percent and incarceration rates by 83 percent.

And considering that 15-20 percent of prisoners have a mental illness and more than 40 percent have participated in substance abuse programs or treatment, mental health and drug courts can reduce burgeoning prison rolls not only by initially diverting offenders, but also by reducing the likelihood they'll return to the justice system. That makes them an attractive option for states with strapped budgets looking to reduce prison costs.