Here in California we have patient advocates and strict guidelines on the use of force, seclusion, etc. You have to be shown that you cannot make a reasoned decision for yourself before you can be forced to take meds. You can only be involuntarily committed if you are shown to be a danger to yourself or others and then for not more than 30 days if it cannot be shown that you are mentally incapcitated. Lobotomies may only be conducted if outside experts agree that there is no other course of treatment and that means that the practice has not been conducted for years.

There are movements afoot to bring these regulations to all states. Support them.

destigmatizing mental illness is probably the one issue i care about that i actually do anything about in my normal life – I’m white, upper-middle-class, and a high achiever type (and ADD isn’t ‘scary’), a perfect poster child, so I make a point of not hiding it, talking about it as a normal part of my life, etc. Sometimes I feel like I’m the MI version of the ‘good negro’ – over-achieving, nonthreatening, ‘normal’ looking – but I have to hope that every little bit helps.
The more people are willing to talk about it, the better it gets. I’m really lucky in that I can be fully ‘out’ (first race comparisons, now GLBT comparisons – smack me if I try to say I’m Rosa Parks, ‘kay?) at work – it’s handy when the boss can give you a heads-up on the side effects of your new meds because he takes them too – and talking about it openly around the office really made me feel like I can help make a dent in the silence, y’know? first time I’ve felt like who I am was actually good for something, all on its own.

anyway, good care is crucial. voluntary commitments in good facilities broke the cycle of hurt for a bipolar former housemate and saved my brother from suicide in an abusive relationship. but until anyone who needs it can get good care without it ‘marking’ them as bad, people are just gonna keep dyin’.

More or less, it was the failure of the several states to take up the slack of community care for the thousands of patients released as psychotropic drugs became available and the Feds decided they could defund psych hospitals.

After puzzling over this a bit, my best guess is that it’s a cereal reference. Great. Now we don’t just have the Strawfeminist, but also the Frosted MiniWheat- and Weeabix- feminists.

In 1963, Congress passed the “Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act,” which called for the development and funding of community-based services (U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1978). This landmark legislation was designed to help reduce the state institutionalized populations by 50%. Thus, thousands of people diagnosed with mental illness were forced onto the street. Because the outflow of patients was so great, the state and mental health professionals were not at all prepared for its effects. The community-based service programs planned were not adequate to deal with the numbers and the severity of the problems in the community (Dear & Wolch, 1987).

To the point: University students with mental disorders often aren’t being cared for; they are being discriminated against. And after the VA Tech shootings, I believe this discrimination will only increase.

It doesn’t have to be this way; at James Madison University (also in VA), they have Mental Health Awareness Week, to de-stigmatize mental illness and teach students how to care for themselves. If you are affiliated with a university, please encourage your school to provide more care for students with mental disorders rather than increasing their stigma by deeming them too much of a liability to be worth educating.

That’s nice that private mental health is good. You know what will be really nice? When most people can afford it. God knows when I’m off my parent’s insurance that I will be fucked left, right, and center, seeing that I am unable to work due to my condition.

Mind you, the hospital I went to WAS a private hospital. And it’s not like I went way back when. I was there two years ago. I mean Jesus Christ.

Do I think seeking mental health care is worthless? Fuck no I don’t. I go to therapy and have a fantastic therapist. And she isn’t from a private practice, either. I’ve seen people make progress. I’ve seen myself go on meds that… helped (although God knows if I forget to take them for 24-72 hours, I become literally homicidal as a result from withdrawal, but whatever). And all that nice fluffy shit that I have to say as disclaimer so that people don’t read this post and go ‘ZOMG I MAY AS WELL NEVER TRY.’ No, really, please try. If you have the right treatment, it really, really helps.

But we are talking about people who are thrown into state psychiatric facilities, not private ones, after telling another person that they’re suicidal, and how kicking out someone from college into one of these probably won’t make shit better seeing that the mental health system is already BULLSHIT. What I would like to see? That it isn’t shitty anymore so that we CAN put people in there and not worry about them getting worse as a result.

What I learned from my research was that the national deinstitutionalization program began in the 1960s (I always thought it began with Reagan too).

At the time, the idea was that the large number of persons institutionalized would be categorized – those with severe illness who were a danger to others would remain institutionalized and others with less severe illnesses would be brought back into their local communities and served at community health centers.

Sounds good, right? The problem began when the Government de-institutionalized thousands without creating the necessary community health centers – there was simply no place to go for mental health services.

The sad thing is that over 35 years later – the problem persists.

Jill, thanks for this post. The mental illness stigma is persistent and sad. Persons with mental illness range from people with mild conditions (anxiety disorders, depression) who are lawyers, teachers, businesspersons, etc. & high functioning to people with severe illnesses (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) who need more intense treatment. This diverse population cannot be summed up & prescribed one policy (ie. “lock them up”) as they cannot be treated by a single medical prescription.

As a highly functioning person who is treated for a mental illness & who is no danger to herself or others, I would like to say thanks.