Hamplanets: Involuntary commitment Austria, Belgium, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Russia, Taiwan, Ontario (Canada), and the United States have adopted commitment criteria based on the presumed danger of the defendant to self or to others. People with suicidal thoughts may act on these impulses and harm or kill themselves. People with psychosis are occasionally driven by their delusions or hallucinations to harm themselves or others. People with certain types of personality disorders can occasionally present a danger to themselves or others. -wikipedia The problem is there may be a requirement that the threat to themselves must be imminent.  You could argue that the next meal is part of the problem. Of course, in the states, it could be a bit awkward to institutionalize a third or more of the population...