Case Summary
P.B. appeals her involuntary commitment to Evansville State Hospital (“the Hospital”). We reverse.
Issue
The sole issue before us is whether there is sufficient evidence to support the trial court’s commitment order.
Facts
P.B. has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. In Indiana, P.B. has been in and out of involuntary commitments to mental hospitals since March 2011. She also has previously been hospitalized in Virginia and California. She attempted suicide on several occasions, the last time being in 2014.
P.B.’s most recent hospitalization began on December 5, 2016, when she was involuntarily committed to a hospital in South Bend. Prior to this commitment, her treating psychiatrist stated that
P.B. was suffering “from symptoms of paranoia, delusions, and mood lability.” She also had a recent history of threatening other residents of her apartment complex and being disruptive. She believed that her family and neighbors were breaking into her apartment at night and beating her up, and she was calling police two to three times a day making delusional claims about intruders.
Generally, P.B. believed that her mother was conspiring against her, to harm her and she was extremely paranoid. P.B. had been “poorly compliant” with outpatient treatment to address her paranoia and regularly refused to take antipsychotic medication, believing it was poisonous. On February 13, 2017, P.B. was transferred to the Hospital, a State facility. On February 14, 2017, the trial court entered an order continuing P.B.’s regular commitment without hearing. On May 2, 2017, P.B. filed a request for review and dismissal of her commitment.
Read the entire opinion here.