Do you notice how the majority of the people who comment on mental health issues remain anonymous? In the past, I would have attributed it to the stigma society placed (and still does) on the mentally ill. Today, it is both that, and the fact that the people who comment are deathly afraid that they or their loved ones will be punished by the very system them look to for support.
One would expect that persons working in the public mental health field would be compassionate, caring, supportive, dedicated, and upbeat. Quite the contrary -- with resources diminishing EVERY YEAR, they are bitter, angry, disillusioned, sometimes incompetent, burned out, underpaid, overworked, ignored, and emotionally drained by a system that underserves the population they are charged with helping, and then cuts some more. This can result in client neglect, or even worse, abuse, which brings me back to my first observation about the anonymity of those speaking up for the mentally ill.
I have had the misfortune to have a family member require mental health services for many years, and he or she (I'm not telling) has lived in unsafe, noisy, deteriorating, crime-ridden housing provided by the system without speaking up because of the fear that they would be evicted for speaking up. (and they were). Mentally-ill people are regarded by society as "less than" people - they deserve less than "normal' people, they bother us on the street, they sometimes talk to themselves - it would just be better if we did not have to see them (like the images of starving babies from Darfur). Unfortunately, these people live in Santa Barbara, CA, USA, not Darfur, and we still throw them away.
Since the State Penal system has replaced the Mental Health system as the treatment of choice for these unfortunate folks, they become criminals, occupy jail beds, tie up our overloaded court system (they don't belong in jail - they need ongoing treatment). How much does it cost to house a jail inmate per day? How much will the new jail cost? How much would proper treatment cost?
Shame on us as a society for allowing this to happen.
Previous Month
Posted on April 24 at 5:01 p.m.
Do you notice how the majority of the people who comment on mental health issues remain anonymous? In the past, I would have attributed it to the stigma society placed (and still does) on the mentally ill. Today, it is both that, and the fact that the people who comment are deathly afraid that they or their loved ones will be punished by the very system them look to for support.
One would expect that persons working in the public mental health field would be compassionate, caring, supportive, dedicated, and upbeat. Quite the contrary -- with resources diminishing EVERY YEAR, they are bitter, angry, disillusioned, sometimes incompetent, burned out, underpaid, overworked, ignored, and emotionally drained by a system that underserves the population they are charged with helping, and then cuts some more. This can result in client neglect, or even worse, abuse, which brings me back to my first observation about the anonymity of those speaking up for the mentally ill.
I have had the misfortune to have a family member require mental health services for many years, and he or she (I'm not telling) has lived in unsafe, noisy, deteriorating, crime-ridden housing provided by the system without speaking up because of the fear that they would be evicted for speaking up. (and they were).
Mentally-ill people are regarded by society as "less than" people - they deserve less than "normal' people, they bother us on the street, they sometimes talk to themselves - it would just be better if we did not have to see them (like the images of starving babies from Darfur). Unfortunately, these people live in Santa Barbara, CA, USA, not Darfur, and we still throw them away.
Since the State Penal system has replaced the Mental Health system as the treatment of choice for these unfortunate folks, they become criminals, occupy jail beds, tie up our overloaded court system (they don't belong in jail - they need ongoing treatment). How much does it cost to house a jail inmate per day? How much will the new jail cost? How much would proper treatment cost?
Shame on us as a society for allowing this to happen.
On Dark Cloud Over Mental Health