demboyz Wrote:
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>
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/magazine/when-my
> -crazy-father-actually-lost-his-mind.html?pagewant
> ed=all
>
> The article discusses how difficult it is to get
> someone hospitalized when they need it.
>
> It is long, but relates to this thread....
Good article. Prior to 1963, institutionalization was used for anyone who had even the slightest mental illness and once you were in the system it was very hard to get out.
Before divorce was commonplace, one way of getting out of an unhappy marriage would be to have your spouse committed to a state institution and that would be the last you would ever see the person.
In the 1980s there was a sudden awareness of the homeless problem. The homeless on our streets is partly the direct result of the elimination of the state hospitals. Addiction, economic reasons are other contributing factors of course, but mental health problems are behind most of those who are chronically homeless.
In that article, the author talks about how the family was more or less forced to leave his dad on the streets because they couldn't bring him home because of the restraining order they had to protect his mother.
One would think there would be some balance that could be struck, but sadly its either lock-em-up and throw away the key or let them roam free on the streets.
There was some hope that drugs would be the solution, but sadly the side effects and complicated nature of many patient's illnesses make it hard to actually "treat" the problem.