Consequences of Psychiatric Committment

Factual Questions
1

Hi, all. I’ve been reading TSD for over ten years and used to be a rather frequent contributor to the Usenet group, but this is my first posting to these boards. Please give me a heads-up if I’m violating any board-specific ettiquette.

Hypothetical situation: you and your spouse/SO get into a heated argument. Your SO (who, for sake of argument, is a mental health professional) makes some calls to the appropriate folks saying you’re suicidal and need to be observed. They come find you and cart you off. You’re fine - and you haven’t really done anything - so they eventually let you go.

Two questions:

  1. How likely is the above? I’ve heard a woman (who is a nurse of some standing) brag that she’s done this, but she’s the type who tells a lot of extraordinary stories.

  2. Assuming this happens, what have you lost for life? In the “House 5/11” thread (House 5/11 - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board), FallenAngel asks if the main character would ever be able to practice medicine after a committment. Would that apply to the situation above? Would your testimony in court be impeachable for the rest of your life? Are there any jobs you could never hold?

Thanks - this is something I’ve wondered about for some time.

2

IANALawyer, but as far as ‘impeachable’ testimony… A jury has to decide how credible every witness’s testimony is. Everyone’s testimony is impeachable in some sense – all it takes is giving the jury some reason not to believe it.

As far as jobs – I would leave this question to a lawyer, but I would think that refusing a person employment based on a medical condition that does not in itself preclude them from performing a job might be considered illegal discrimination.