West Virginia provides for both of these. A North Carolina study shows that outpatient treatment orders can be very effective and result in better outcomes. The study found that patients with these orders have fewer psychiatric admissions, spend fewer days hospitalized, and have lower odds of violence. Outpatient treatment orders are particularly effective for those with a history of substance abuse or violence. However, these orders are only effective if there is an effective enforcement procedure in place.
Fewer hospitalizations increase the liberty of the patient.
Some states have a less stringent standard for ordering a patient into outpatient treatment than for involuntary commitment. The people who make decisions about mental health care should understand the nature of the illnesses. How can so much degradation and death so much inhumanity be justified in the name of civil liberties. The opposition to involuntary committal and treatment betrays a profound misunderstanding of the principles of civil liberties. Medication can free victims from their illness, free them from the Bastille of their psychosis and restore their dignity, their free will, and meaningful exercise of liberty.