Meanwhile, the state is struggling to keep pace with the emergent mental health care crisis on our hands to address it.

Governor Murphy earlier this month signed a law doubling the length of time a person with severe mental health issues can be held in a hospital or emergency department without their consent.

It's a move both the administration and health care organizations say will help hospitals and patients.

But people who've been involuntarily committed held against their will at a hospital say they have serious concerns about the new policy.

Mental health writer Bobby Brier spoke with them and joins me now.

Bobby, great to talk to you.

I know you took some time to really have some deep conversations with folks who have been involuntarily committed.

What did they tell you primarily about their concerns and their fears with how the system works right now?

Yeah, Briana, their main concerns right now and fears were that this additional six days with a as long as these hospital and emergency departments receive a temporary court order, would essentially only keep folks in what they had called a holding pattern for even longer.

One source I spoke to said oftentimes in hospitals, they're not receiving the treatment that they need.

They're in these crisis pods for up to six days without the necessary interventions that they would need.

Of course, many times they are having access to a psychiatrist or to a social worker.

But essentially, a big concern also is after discharge that they would not have a treatment plan in place, according to sources.

But are they finding that this method is effective in treating the various mental health disorders that people are first admitted for?

They found that this is really a stopgap measure in a way that this would provide an additional time for a hospital to locate a bed.

As Governor Murphy had said in his statement after signing that the bill this is really in addressing an emergent crisis in the mental health care profession due to a lack of availability of beds.

There's, of course, also a lack of providers in a workforce shortage as well.

So this is really, as one legislator had mentioned as well, a Band-Aid in many ways to address a crisis that is clearly an emergency.

I mean, I know that there are those in the health care community who see this as a way of protecting patients and the public.

Really, what are the stipulations in order for someone to be committed in this way?

Meaning what has to happen before someone is involuntarily committed?

Sure, there's a number of protocols in place that have to address the needs of the patient, first and foremost.

Many of those protocols are determined by a psychiatrist or multiple psychiatrists essentially looking at whether or not the patient or the person would be deemed a harm to themselves or to others, and that releasing them prior to the 72 hour hold or now the six day hold would endanger them or members of the public.

But and so those two protocols.

Yeah, I mean, it just seems like there's a real disconnect between what the hospitals and health care agencies are saying.

And what these patients describe as what they're experiencing.

There is and it seems like the health care organizations and many of the legislators are saying that this is just a temporary measure to address something that has been going on for a long time now.

They have said that this is, of course, just a two year time limit on this bill.

But at the same time, many of the folks who have been held against their will in these hospitals have said that this is a problem that would only maybe exacerbate the symptoms that they're going through because it is such a traumatic situation to begin with.

Oftentimes in hospitals and emergency departments for these folks.

Hmm.

Mental health writer Bobby Brier.

Bobby, great story.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Briana.