Giving Compass' Take:

• Governing magazine reports on court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment for mentally ill people, which has generated debate among policymakers: Does it hurt more than help?

• Those in the mental health sector should look at all sides of the issue with an empathetic view on mental illness, and see how we can gather more data for evidence-based programs.

• Here's why peer networks are important to mental health systems.

When mental illness hijacks Margaret Rodgers’ mind, she acts out.

Rodgers, 35, lives with depression and bipolar disorder. When left unchecked, the conditions drive the Alabama woman to excessive spending, crying and mania.

Last autumn, Rodgers felt her mind unraveling. Living in Birmingham, she was uninsured, unable to afford treatment and in the throes of a divorce. Although Rodgers traveled south to her brother’s house in Foley, Ala., for respite, she couldn’t escape thoughts of suicide, which one day led her to his gun.

“I hit bottom,” she recalled. But she didn’t pull the trigger.

Rodgers told her brother about the close call. News of the incident reached her mother, who then alerted authorities to Rodgers’ near attempt.

Within days, Rodgers was handcuffed and hauled in front of a judge who ordered her to undergo mental health treatment — but not a hospital commitment. Instead, the judge mandated six months of care that included weekly therapy sessions and medication, all while Rodgers continued living with her family.

Rodgers entered assisted outpatient treatment, also known as involuntary outpatient commitment.

Since its inception, the court-ordered intervention has generated controversy. Proponents say it secures the comprehensive care that people with severe mental illnesses might not recognize they need. Yet other health experts question the effectiveness of the intervention and suggest it represents a quick fix in a mental health system that is not adequately serving patients.

Read the full article about why states are allowing more outpatient mental health treatment by Carmen Heredia Rodriguez at Governing magazine.