When someone you love is suffering from a serious mental health condition but refuses treatment, it can be heartbreaking and scary. You may feel helpless, confused, or even unsafe as you watch their condition worsen without intervention.
While it’s important to respect an individual’s rights, there are times when legal and compassionate steps must be taken to ensure their safety and the safety of others. In California and across the U.S., involuntary treatment laws are designed to protect both the person in crisis and the people around them.
Why Someone Might Refuse Mental Health Help
Refusing help is common among individuals struggling with mental illness, and the reasons are often deeply personal and complex. Fear, stigma, and lack of insight (known as anosognosia) can all play a role. For some, acknowledging they need help feels like admitting defeat. Others may distrust the healthcare system, fear losing independence, or not realize the severity of their symptoms.
Common reasons someone might refuse help:
- Lack of awareness that they’re unwell (anosognosia)
- Fear of hospitalization or forced treatment
- Distrust of mental health professionals or past trauma
- Cultural or personal stigma around mental illness
- Concern about costs or losing autonomy
How to Report a Mentally Unstable Person
If a person poses a danger to themselves or others due to untreated mental illness, you may need to report the situation to initiate intervention. In California, you can contact local mental health crisis teams and law enforcement trained in crisis intervention or go through the county’s behavioral health services.
Here’s how the process typically works:
- Call 911 or your county’s crisis line and request a psychiatric evaluation for someone experiencing a mental health emergency.
- Explain the situation clearly, describing behaviors that demonstrate immediate risk and the need for immediate mental health support (e.g., threats of self-harm, erratic actions).
- The person may be placed under a 5150 hold for an involuntary 72-hour psychiatric hold for evaluation and stabilization.
- If extended care is needed, the hold may transition into a 5250, a 14-day involuntary treatment hold with a legal hearing.
Keep documentation, dates, and examples of concerning behavior. Knowing how to get someone mental help when they refuse starts with understanding how to initiate a legal and safe response.
Understanding Mental Health and the Law
Mental illness laws are designed to protect both the rights and well-being of individuals experiencing psychiatric distress. In California, laws like the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act allow for involuntary hospitalization under specific circumstances. The criteria typically include being a danger to oneself, others, or being gravely disabled due to mental illness.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The ADA ensures that individuals with mental health conditions are treated fairly and are not discriminated against in employment, housing, education, or access to services. It also requires reasonable accommodations be made to support mental health needs in public and private sectors. This law plays a critical role in promoting dignity and equality for people living with mental illness.
Mental Health Courts
Mental health courts offer an alternative to incarceration for individuals whose legal troubles stem from untreated mental illness. Instead of punishment, these courts connect participants with treatment programs, case management, and community support. The goal is to break the cycle of hospitalization or jail time by addressing the root causes of behavior.
HIPAA Exceptions in Crisis Situations
Although HIPAA laws generally protect a person’s private health information, there are exceptions during a mental health crisis. If someone poses an imminent threat to themselves or others, health professionals may legally share necessary information with family members or law enforcement. This allows families to take timely action and get their loved one the help they need.
Conservatorship Laws
Conservatorship is a legal process that appoints a responsible individual to make decisions for someone who is unable to care for themselves due to mental illness. In California, this often applies when someone continues to decline after short-term holds and cannot voluntarily participate in treatment. A conservator may be granted authority over medical, financial, or daily life decisions to ensure the person’s safety and well-being.
Create a Plan
Taking action requires preparation. We know it can be difficult to support a loved one with anxiety, depression, and other severe mental health concerns. A proactive approach gives you clarity, reduces crisis escalation, and increases the chances of success.
Step 1: Document the Behaviors
Keep detailed notes about your loved one’s behavior, symptoms, and anything that could demonstrate risk. This can support legal or clinical interventions.
Step 2: Talk to a Mental Health Professional
Consult with a therapist, psychiatrist, or crisis counselor about the safest path forward. They can help assess the situation and explain options.
Step 3: Learn Your Local Resources
Every county has mental health crisis services. Get familiar with mobile crisis teams, walk-in clinics, and psychiatric emergency units in your area.
Step 4: Build a Support System
You don’t have to do this alone. Involve trusted friends, family, or support groups to help navigate the emotional toll of helping a mentally ill family member.
How to Support a Loved One During Treatment
Once your loved one has entered treatment, voluntarily or not, they’ll need emotional support more than ever. Recovery is rarely linear, and their experience may come with fear, resistance, or even resentment. This is where compassion and boundaries matter most.
Listen Without Judgment
Give your loved one space to express their thoughts and emotions without interruption. Even if what they share is difficult to hear or doesn’t make sense to you, being a non-judgmental presence helps build trust. Avoid correcting, diagnosing, or arguing; instead, offer calm validation and reassurance.
Respect Their Autonomy
While treatment may have started involuntarily, your loved one still deserves to feel in control of parts of their life. Whenever possible, let them make decisions about things like food, clothes, or visitation. These small choices can help rebuild a sense of dignity and personal agency.
Coordinate with Providers
If permitted, stay in communication with your loved one’s care team to better understand how to support their treatment goals. Providers can offer insight into progress, setbacks, and ways you can reinforce what’s happening in therapy. Family involvement, when welcomed, can lead to more stable long-term outcomes.
Set Healthy Boundaries
Being a supportive family member doesn’t mean sacrificing your own emotional or physical well-being. It’s okay to say no, take breaks, and protect your own energy when needed. Boundaries actually create a safer, more sustainable relationship for both you and your loved one.
Stay Consistent
Mental health recovery is often a long and unpredictable process. Continue showing up with love and patience, even when there’s resistance or relapse. Your steady presence can become an anchor during a time of deep instability and uncertainty.
Our Approach to Complex Mental Health Crises
At Neurish Wellness, our renowned mental health treatment center in Orange County, CA, we recognize that not all paths to healing are voluntary or straightforward. That’s why our treatment model is uniquely equipped to support individuals in crisis and the families who stand beside them. Our care approach goes beyond stabilization. We offer long-term, compassionate strategies for recovery.
We provide:
- Individualized treatment plans tailored to each person’s clinical and emotional profile
- An upscale residential mental health facility in California
- Support through legal and crisis-related mental health challenges
- Collaboration with referring professionals, guardians, and loved ones
- Therapies designed to build insight, stability, and long-term healing
Whether your loved one enters care willingly or through involuntary means, Neurish Wellness is here to provide a safe, nurturing path forward.
Reach Out to Neurish Wellness
If you’re concerned about a loved one and feel unsure how to get someone mental help when they refuse, you don’t have to navigate this alone. Our team specializes in compassionate, legally-informed care that meets people where they are, especially in times of crisis. We’re here to listen, support, and help you find the right next step.
Contact us today to learn how our personalized, upscale mental health programs can help bring relief, clarity, and recovery—no matter how complex the situation may feel.
FAQs About Involuntary Mental Health Treatment
What is involuntary psychiatric treatment?
Involuntary treatment occurs when a person is hospitalized or treated without their consent due to serious risk to themselves or others. In California, this starts with a 5150 hold.
How to get someone mental help when they refuse?
You can contact a local mental health crisis line, document symptoms, and work with providers or law enforcement to initiate an involuntary psychiatric evaluation.
What are mental illness laws in California?
California’s LPS Act governs involuntary psychiatric holds. Rights are protected by HIPAA, ADA, and state regulations related to hospitalization, court involvement, and conservatorship.
How to get a family member admitted to a mental hospital?
You must demonstrate that your family member meets criteria for hospitalization, such as being a danger to self, others, or gravely disabled. A mental health evaluation can trigger admission.
How to have a person committed?
In California, this involves initiating a 5150 hold and potentially pursuing extended legal holds or conservatorship if the individual continues to need care but refuses treatment.
© Neurish Wellness 2024
CONTACT US
Phone: (866) 525 5197
Email: info@neurishwellness.com
Licensed by the State Department of Health Care Services:
License #: MHBT210368 | Expiration Date: 10/13/2025
© Neurish Wellness 2024
CONTACT US
Phone: (866) 525 5197
Email: info@neurishwellness.com
Licensed by the State Department of Health Care Services:
License #: MHBT210368 | Expiration Date: 10/13/2025
© Neurish Wellness 2024
CONTACT US
Phone: (866) 525 5197
Email: info@neurishwellness.com
Licensed by the State Department of Health Care Services:
License #: MHBT210368 | Expiration Date: 10/13/2025
Cole Dyar is the Executive Director & co-founder of Neurish Wellness. He has been working in the behavioral health field in operational, clinical, organizational, and managerial capacities for thirteen years. He holds a degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz in sociology and is a Licensed Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LAADC) as recognized by CCAPP. Cole holds a Master of Science in Industrial/Organizational Psychology including: Organizational Leadership and Design, a Post-Masters in General Marriage and Family Therapy, and is currently a doctoral candidate in MFT with an emphasis in Systemic Administration & Entrepreneurship.