The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is what everyone wants in the world. What if that was just taken from you in a blink of an eye? What if you had no say? What if someone puts you in that situation?
I dated a woman awhile ago. We were very happy together. She has mild OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). Her parents told her she was going to a facility out of state, and she had no say! They told their 21-year-old daughter, “We are sending you away!” She did not want to go at all!! She asked me to help, but I did not know what I could do.
When she left, she would call me crying, saying she hated it there. She had locked herself in a room. Her parents drove out to calm her down. They told her if she signed herself out, she would be cut off. She was only supposed to be there two years; it’s been 15. This is a fully grown adult woman that is fully capable of managing her OCD. This is scary!
As a human being, you have to dig deep down and say, “What am I doing to my own loved one???”
You see, as a person with a disability, you can be committed to an asylum or facility simply because you may not be able to care for yourself. You don’t have to be mentally disturbed at all. What happens if your loved ones just get tired of you and put you in a facility? You would probably say, “Well, they can’t do that!” It’s easy for most people not to worry about that. But a disabled person thinks about it often.
If you are doing it for the right reasons, if someone truly needs the care of a facility, putting them there should be done with a heavy heart!! And if you lie to put someone in a facility, that is just evil!
Oh, you think that never can happen? Nellie Bly was a reporter in the early 1900’s, who got herself committed to a women’s asylum. Inside, she uncovered abuses and situations where husbands had lied to put their wives away, to avoid paying for a divorce or to rid themselves of an annoyance. Nellie found that these women were going insane from being trapped and helpless in this environment. She revealed her identity and her people got her out.
Think about this. Institutional living can be very much like imprisonment. Freedom is limited; they are told what to do!
You need to think about what you might be giving your loved one up to experience? People have gotten hurt in these places and some have died. Committing someone to a facility should only be done if absolutely needed!
Think about this also. What if a family member asks you to do it for them? Big red flag!! If someone wants their loved one committed and they won’t let the police or social workers talk to the committee. Another red flag!
Humans will do the darkest things to others. Humans can be the most dangerous animals on the planet. Yes, there is a need sometimes for institutionalizing. But before you do that to a person, commit yourself to see how you like it! Find out what the experience is like. And if you lie to get what you want, may God have mercy on your soul!
