New Jersey just passed a law that doubles the legal involuntary psych hospitalization hold time from 72 hours to 144 hours. They're claiming that there is a psychiatric bed shortage, and saying that this will help link more people to care.
This law is dangerous, harmful to mad/mentally ill/neurodivergent people, and will cause more psychiatric trauma. I'm incredibly worried about the way politicians are weaponizing the concept of "mental health crises" and "bed shortages" to pass laws that increase incarceration. Psych survivors can tell you that any time spent psychiatrically incarcerated is too long, but these extensions from 3 days to 6 days will have dramatic impacts on people's wellbeing. There are people who will now lose their job because they missed 6 days off work, have to arrange childcare for 6 days, miss an entire week of school, who spend days in solitary confinement, go through repeated strip searches, go through withdrawal, and deal with the everyday violence of psychiatric hospitalization for that much longer. It is crucial that we fight against any policies that give more power and authority to the psych system, and build up alternative systems of care based in values of mad liberation/psych abolition, autonomy, and disability justice.
We deserve care, not confinement.
someone added tags pointing out that for most psych holds, weekends do not count. So under the old system, if you came in on a Friday night, you might not get out until Wednesday. Under a new system, you might be held there for 8 days before even getting to court proceedings.
