I'll admit I'm a bit biased. I have had a brief psychotic episode, committed against my will (based on the article its hard to commit people, but in my case, not being home at 11pm at night but walking in the street in a nearby town -- plus a yes from a person in my family to the police did it right away.) This in the US. So I've seen this from the other side. I felt my family were more concerned in maintaining the appearance they were doing the right thing and to prevent any further disruption than anything else. Nevermind if the patient loses the ability to think or develops side effects like tardive dyskinesia (where you can't control your tounge so it keeps sticking out of your face and drool -- which I experienced for a day, or uncontrollable eye tics), and weight gain which is very common. I was surprised that the psychiatrists don't spend much time with you, its a 10 minute conversation followed by a prescription for daily antipsychotics. Unfortunately, my parents trust in medicine and are very conservative and thorough, so they gave me more antipsychotic than I needed and talked me into taking it for months and getting prescription elsewhere even though the initial doctors were no longer involved. Your every behavior becomes second-guessed, if you become occasionally irritated like normal people, your family thinks you didn't take your medication or you might need help. In fact, at the end of the article, when the father said some loving things towards his son, I wondered to myself whether the father had said those things as part of the act to protect himself from treatment. Its what involuntary commitment does to you.
Btw, now there are antipsychotics that are injected once a month and release slowly.
The author seems extremely harsh and unfeeling toward his father. He, or any one of us, should try to imagine being treated like his father did -- on first discharge from hospital, no one to pick him up but just some money and clean clothes were dropped off at the hospital. His father must have felt too unwelcome to even go home, and he didn't ... he went to visit his brother. On second discharge from hospital, they were so worried he might go home that they used a single phone call he made from hospital to the apartment as an excuse to put a restraining order on him -- which the police reacted by putting the father in jail. What a son! No surprise when the father acted hostile towards his children. I honestly think the children should have found a new apartment for their mother instead of putting father in hospital/jail.
Btw, now there are antipsychotics that are injected once a month and release slowly.