I’m not sure if this is just urban legend or if its something that used to happen (or still happens for that matter)…
Did people actually ever get “taken away” by the “men in white coats” for “odd” or “crazy” behaviour? (I’ll leave it up to my fellow Dopers to define “odd” or “crazy” behaviour.)
usually men in blue coats would deliver the disturbed to men in white coats
giant butterfly nets were never employed by the mental health profession
(although ice picks were 
)
(by the way, did they ever block that tunnel under the road from the grounds of Western State Hospital that leads to Steilicoom park?)
My roommate was taken to the general hospital in restraints by men in white coats after a seizure. He recovered and was never institutionalized. No cause was found.
It is usually just a regular ambulance crew. That leads to the ER where the person is assessed by a psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker. From there, it usually leads to a locked psychiatric unit if the person is a threat to himself or others. Restraint may be used when needed during any of these steps. The threat to oneself or others is the key criterion these days. General whackjobs don’t get captured outside of this.
What Slithy Tove said. Here in Ontario, anyways.
Odd or crazy doesn’t cut it, though. To be committed against your will, it first has to be proven that you are at immediate risk of endangering yourself or others, either as a result of direct action or an inability to care for yourself.
[QUOTE=Shagnasty]
It is usually just a regular ambulance crew. That leads to the ER where the person is assessed by a psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker. From there, it usually leads to a locked psychiatric unit if the person is a threat to himself or others. Restraint may be used when needed during any of these steps. The threat to oneself or others is the key criterion these days. General whackjobs don’t get captured outside of this.
[/QUOTE]
Exactly this, if the person is around friends and family. If they are freaking out in a public place, police might be called first.
I think the “men in white coats” meme comes from the time when all hospital staff wore white and hospital orderlies wore white trousers and jackets.
[QUOTE=Slithy Tove]
giant butterfly nets were never employed by the mental health profession
[/QUOTE]
Which is a damn shame, if you ask me. Although I wouldn’t want to be the one who’d have to scoop up the person and cart them off to the van. You’d have to be way strong to do that.
[QUOTE=Shagnasty]
It is usually just a regular ambulance crew.
[/QUOTE]
In L.A. the police can take you away, if someone tells them you’re a threat to yourself (suicidal). They take you to an emergency room.