Ask HN: I hacked the mental health industry now what?
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10639657
Recap: the hospital wouldn't let my girlfriend go after she’d come to her senses. They refused to talk to me. I scheduled a court hearing, which the hospital’s attorney decided to ignore. The court investigated, decided that my girlfriend was being unlawfully detained, and ordered the hospital to release their patient. I made a few minor mistakes in my execution of the court hearing and implementation of the court’s ruling. After calling the police for help, I was attacked by the hospital’s security guards. Eventually I learned that they lied to the responding officer when he appeared, which is why I was arrested.
It took me two days to meet with a lawyer, who prepared a template for a motion to amend the court’s order. By then it was too late: my girlfriend had been sucked into the system.
I “read the documentation” (statutes) and hacked the hospital’s usual procedures, but minor mistakes kept me from successfully keeping my girlfriend out of the mental health system. She needed some help, but is not benefiting from the “treatments” forced upon her.
Initially I wanted to draw public attention to the plight of everyone who’s stuck in the system. But someone I respect said, “the missionaries get eaten by cannibals”.
To quote ESR: “Hacking favors scrap-and-rebuild over patch-and-extend. An essential part of hacking is ruthlessly throwing away code … no matter how much time you have invested in it.”
The mental health system is not going to fix itself: Obamacare pays the bills, and the patients are generally incapable of standing up for themselves. I have some observations, research and suggestions for helping people keep themselves sane, and for helping their trapped family, but it’s a big project. Where do I start?
Thanks!