[throwaway11460]

Well, I lived through that personally. There was a court hearing where they appointed a legal representative (an attorney) and a public defender, and then they argued about it for several hours during multiple hearings. The representative was checking on me, my conditions at the hospital and my treatment frequently and reported it to the court. As soon as they all deemed me to be back in my own head, they gave me my rights back.

I hated that they took my agency back then, but looking back it was fair and all of the people involved tried their best to represent my interests, and I'm grateful they did it.

[yumraj]

That is a special case and I agree that in that case authorization is needed since older people can be especially vulnerable to evil relatives.

How about, one is allowed to go to some authority or doctor, 3 times at the space of 10 days, and express their desire. They can always change their mind. At the end of their 3 visits they are given a prescription. This is just an example, there can be other ways.

Edit: to clarify, 3 visits, 10 days apart is 30 days. And, the person has to do themselves so obviously need to be healthy and the person receiving the affidavit/declaration can notice if there are any mental health concerns. Make it 6 visits for total of min 60 days. As long as there is a good and relatively easy process I’m good.

[manuelmoreale]

It’s good that the process was thorough but your still left with a process that’s somewhat arbitrary because someone has to decide for you.

I think this is one of those situations where there will never be a good solution. Especially for mental health related issues.

I’m glad to hear it worked out for you though in the end.