A mental health crisis in the family is stressful in itself. It becomes even more stressful when it leads to a family conflict. You and your loved one may disagree on whether they need help: you may want to take them to a doctor because you believe they are unwell, but they may feel that everything is fine and refuse to seek professional help. More often, families disagree about a specific treatment, such as:
the family think that a person will benefit from hospitalization, but the person does not want to go to the hospital;
a person does not want to take medications that the family want them to take.
Such conflicts are often caused by misinformation: families do not know about non-coercive treatment methods and believe in the common misconception that someone who is psychotic, delusional, or suicidal will not accept help voluntarily.
Some people seek legal options to force a family member into treatment that they believe is in this person’s best interest. Forced treatment may solve the family’s and/or the person’s problems in the short term, but it often has long-term negative consequences and should be avoided whenever possible. Many parents come to regret their child’s forced treatment.