Methods
To better understand the national landscape, civil commitment statutes forinvoluntaryhospitalizationinall50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) were reviewed to assess for trends that might help guide further discussion about this important interface between mental health practice and the law. Our primary goal was to compile a comprehensive list of all statutory definitions of mental illness as related to involuntary hospitalization, with a specific focus on any mention of substance abuse or dependence. Two authors with experience in teaching and writing about mental health law (SC and EBF) reviewed all state mental health statutes as of April 11, 2013, by using LexisNexis and Westlaw search engines. Civil commitment and, if applicable, separate addiction-related inpatient commitment statutes were reviewed. The definition of mental illness for the purpose of involuntary hospitalization was identified and interpreted in three ways: including substance use disorders, excluding substance use disorders, or not referencing substance use disorders. Although case law was occasionally used to help interpret particularly complicated statutes, a thorough review of all case law and administrative regulations was outside the scope of this review.