that it is extremely difficult to institutionalize a person who doesn't want it. For some reason we think that a judge will see that somebody is obviously suicidal and give the order to lock them up in a padded room or force them to take meds.

Not so fast.

I mentioned in another post an extended family member who is mentally ill and who has attempted suicide. Last winter she left her apartment barefoot in the middle of a blizzard and disappeared. The family spent hours looking for her the next day--she was nowhere to be found.

She wanted to go somewhere and die. She was found in a snow bank by a police officer, snow blanketing her, just moments before a city snowplow's blade would have hit her. Huge miracle he saw the outlines of her body. She had lost consciousness and was rushed to the hospital. The family found her there two days later.

That was not her first attempt at taking her life.

Her parents contacted several attorneys, doctors, and mental hospital administrators to discuss the option of having her legally institutionalized. They were told that the legal likelihood of a judge removing her rights to make her own decisions were less than 5%. The bar is very high. And if you think about it, that is a good thing. But it didn't give the family comfort.

Just one example/experience, so I don't pretend to be an expert.