(Oct. 11, 2017) Serious mental illness has a dramatic impact on those who suffer from it and their loved ones, but it also affects those who may not be touched first hand. When people suffering from untreated mental illness do not get care because they are unable to or because they do not know they are sick, they end up in places that are not designed for their needs. This leads to major public service costs.
Law enforcement are called upon more and more to answer mental health crisis calls, often using enormous resources and personnel in transporting psychiatric patients for evaluation or care. This often occurs without law enforcement being trained to develop skills necessary to diffuse a crisis situation. This situation is dangerous for both law enforcement and individuals with untreated serious mental illness being, who are 16 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement during an encounter compared to those without a serious mental illness.
People with untreated serious mental illness can remain in emergency rooms for days or even weeks while they wait for a psychiatric hospital bed to open. This doesn’t help the patient in psychiatric crisis, and it certainly does not help emergency room physicians who say that mental health care systems are not working for the patients in their region. This in turn leads to more psychiatric patients in hospital ERs waiting longer to see doctors.
Assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) has been shown to cut costs through reducing incidences in which law enforcement, ERs and other public servants interact with those who are untreated. According to a study by the Treatment Advocacy Center and Health Management Associates, AOT reduced direct costs such as outpatient services for non-mental health issues and administrative costs for serving individuals. Through the effective use of AOT, it is possible to lessen the burden on all public services.
by Heather Carroll