Should the mentally ill be committed by force?

jay gw said:

How do you know that mentally ill people prefer (your version of) liberty over temporary support from the state and the ability to handle life's problems?
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If they want help, they can ask. If a peaceful person with a metnal illness is unwilling or unable to ask for help, then legally, we must assume they don't want our help. Any other legal framework can be abused by the state to circumvent the criminal process in the name of "temporary support" (read: incarceration), since civil commitment requires a much lower standard of proof than "reasonable doubt".
 
If they want help, they can ask.
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Ms. Matthews, who believes she's Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, decides to call the city mental health department.

Operator: You've reached the mental health hotline.
Ms. Matthews: You are speaking to Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt.
Operator: Um......yes, hello Cleopatra.
Ms. Matthews: Even though I believe I'm Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt and have acted as such for years, losing friends, job, going bankrupt, being evicted, refusing to eat, I have decided to call your hotline to ask for a psychological diagnosis by a state approved medical expert.
Operator: Well, we're here to help.

Yes, I'm sure this happens all the time.
Sometimes I want to stop going to message boards because of extremely ignorant people.
 
Quote OP:
"If the resources are available, should people diagnosed with or suspected of having mental illness be forcibly committed by family members? What about the state?"

You've described a very broad range of possible situations here and demanded one of 2 specific answers.

"Suspected of having a mental illness"?

Which 'mental illness'?
...Tourrette's? Post partum depression? Agoraphobia? Dyslexia?
To what degree?

And suspected by whom? Their illiterate brother-in-law? Their soon to be ex-wife and her new boyfriend? Some entry level clerk in a government bureaucracy?

Forcibly committed? What, for life? Till they can prove they are mentally perfect? How long then?

And finally, Why?
 
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