Debate:Should we force those with personality disorders to get treatment?

This is a Debate page. Feel free to add your own spin on the story. Please keep it civil! This debate was created by crunchtheair.

Proposition

One of the larger issues with personality disorders that makes it different than anxiety or depression is self awareness (knowing that you even have a problem in the first place). The big issue with that is that while it may not affect the person with the disorder, it can often have adverse affects on the people around them. Take for example, the "Raised by Narcissists". For this argument's sake, let's pretend that there was a good, effective way of diagnosing and treating personality disorders. Should we force those people to change who they are for the benefit of the community? ^{— Unsigned, by: Crunchtheair / talk / contribs}

No

Assuming that the person has a neutral effect on the community (that is, neither a good nor a bad effect) or a good effect on the community then no, I don't think we should force them to get treatment. I have a friend with - for lack of a better, more effective word to describe what I'm thinking of - crippling depression. As long as she isn't harming anyone, including herself, with the side effects of her disease, I don't think it's ethical to force her to seek treatment. I can pressure her to get help, and I can try to help her myself, but it isn't right to force her to do anything. Now, the second she thinks about hurting herself, I will step up the pressure and really, really work on getting her to see someone for her own good; however, I will never force her to do anything. I love her to death but I can't force her to do anything and still be ethical. I think this goes across the board. I don't believe that we, in good conscious, force anyone to do anything. I can't force my alt-right friends to think a certain way (aside from the obvious barriers to doing so) because to force them to think a certain way is to deprive them of a certain.. je ne sais quoi - that makes them human. Call it the ability to hold personal opinions. If I make those opinions for them, even if they're good and correct and true opinions, I'm taking away their.. humanity. Does that make any sense? I'm taking their right to hold wrong opinions and that is something that is ethically wrong. Similarly, I believe that forcing someone with a disease to get treatment is also wrong. Unless, for instance, they were a psychopath, willing and able to hurt people. Should they be really, legitimately harmful to the people around them, I think that in this special instance it's fine. Now, I realise that this brings up problems instantly. "But who decides who is dangerous and who isn't?" you ask. Well, it doesn't really matter, since this is just a debate and not lawmaking.

TL;DR no, it's almost never ethical to force someone to seek treatment IMO. Meh (You) 17:43, 24 April 2017 (UTC)