On one hand, two of my mom's friends realized something was off on their end: They became extremely anxious to be by themselves at home and/or could not function properly in their daily lives such as getting out of the bed. They went to their family doctors who transferred them promptly to the specialists. They knew that the prescription medication and the therapy have been helping them. In addition, they spoke to their friends such as my mom that mental health illness is real.
On the other hand, one of my friend's acquaintance has not been unable not keep a job, has shown some delusional behaviour and had anxiety outbursts. My friend could not convince this person that, for example, they were the only one who "saw a person behind the garden gate." They mentioned how someone have been following them. Lastly, they also mentioned how "their family locked her up in a mental health facility" but they signed the papers, left the facility and stopped taking the medications.
My friend and I called the local health unit's mental health hotline looking for ways to help this person. The advice given to us was that we could only guide this person to go to a doctor voluntarily. Forcing someone to receive treatment would increase the trauma. Call 911 only if the person becomes a threat to someone's lives.
We felt powerless as we saw their decline over the last 10 years. We saw how the only way to get them to a hospital has been something that qualify for an emergency 911 call.
