Turned Away

It is often debatable which is more likely lead to irrational situations – the untreated symptoms of severe mental illnesses or the laws governing their treatment.

Of those turning to Riverview Psychiatric Center and sick enough to meet the criteria for admission, 85 percent were turned away due to lack of capacity in a five-month period.

Those patients did not have the mental capability necessary to volunteer for treatment under Maine law but were not, at the same time, dangerous enough to meet the state’s restrictive criteria for commitment.

Almost six out of seven of those turning to this state hospital for care were left instead, by law, in a psychotic limbo.