[task_queue]

> I believe the previous solution was to err on the side of allowing 24-hour involuntary psychiatric holds, with observation by a neutral doctor, and taking abuses of that extremely seriously.

We have a history of using this policy in multiple countries, and in each one the system was abused to torment and commit minorities, people (including children) who were deemed an inconvenience, and political enemies.

I say this as someone with a family member who went through a very similar experience as your friend. I know just how scary and frustrating it is, and the immense burden of care and worrying it puts on people who care about someone going through mental breakdown like that.

I wish there was a solution to this problem, but I don't know what it would look like.

[fjsolwmv]

In the US there was an experiment where a bunch of healthy people were sent for a temporary hold and evaluation, and something like half of them were declared insane for refusing to admit they were insane, and trapped until the experimenters intervened.

[ThrowawayR2]

That's the Rosenhan experiment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosenhan_experiment

Rosenhan's paper itself ("On Being Sane In Insane Places") also makes for fascinating reading and is very readable even for laypeople.