Georgia is now one of 25 states allowing people to write directions for their future mental health care just in case they experience a behavioral health crisis.
Psychiatric advance directives were authorized by law in Georgia in 2022, though not many people have heard of them.
That’s why Ellyn Jaeger and Stephanie Diaz spoke about the legal document during a panel at the 2023 National Alliance of Mental Illness conference in Atlanta earlier this month.
(READ MORE: Georgia House seeks more improvements to mental health)
They are with the Georgia Office of Advocacy, but Jaeger had been working for years to make a legal document that specifically mentions mental health as opposed to only alerting about physical conditions like diabetes.