State Run Mental Institutions

cawacko

cawacko

Well-known member
I often hear people blame Governor Reagan for letting people out of state run mental institutions but when I read about the '60's and '70's I hear about liberal activists that thought it was cruel punishment to lock people up. This is a big article on San Francisco homeless in today's paper and they make reference of that here:


Mental illness


Perhaps the most heart-rending subpopulation is made up of the mentally ill. Here, good intentions are at the heart of how San Francisco’s streets became an open-air mental ward, with deranged people railing at telephone poles or passersby, or muttering to themselves for hours.

Back in the 1960s and ’70s, state-run mental institutions, where troubled people were once committed against their will, came to be seen by advocates as a means of violating individuals’ rights. Closing them saved money.

With their demise, the plan, supported by both conservatives and liberals, was for community-based centers across the country to help people instead — but those were underfunded. The result: A growing population of mentally ill people were turned loose to fend for themselves.


http://projects.sfchronicle.com/sf-homeless/overview/
 
Actually while Reagan is definitely culpable, the braying about liberals is incorrect.
Modern day mental health practioners are truly to blame by egomaniacally claiming they could cure all ills in their greatness.
Reagan was the dupe who believed them.
 
Rune said:
Actually while Reagan is definitely culpable, the braying about liberals is incorrect.
Modern day mental health practioners are truly to blame by egomaniacally claiming they could cure all ills in their greatness.
Reagan was the dupe who believed them.
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So liberals in the '60's and '70's didn't support people not being forced into mental institutions?
 
cawacko said:
I often hear people blame Governor Reagan for letting people out of state run mental institutions but when I read about the '60's and '70's I hear about liberal activists that thought it was cruel punishment to lock people up. This is a big article on San Francisco homeless in today's paper and they make reference of that here:


Mental illness


Perhaps the most heart-rending subpopulation is made up of the mentally ill. Here, good intentions are at the heart of how San Francisco’s streets became an open-air mental ward, with deranged people railing at telephone poles or passersby, or muttering to themselves for hours.

Back in the 1960s and ’70s, state-run mental institutions, where troubled people were once committed against their will, came to be seen by advocates as a means of violating individuals’ rights. Closing them saved money.

With their demise, the plan, supported by both conservatives and liberals, was for community-based centers across the country to help people instead — but those were underfunded. The result: A growing population of mentally ill people were turned loose to fend for themselves.


http://projects.sfchronicle.com/sf-homeless/overview/
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Oh....I thought this was about congress.

Have you read Ken Kasey's classic one flew over the cuckoos next?
 
cawacko said:
With their demise, the plan, supported by both conservatives and liberals, was for community-based centers across the country to help people instead — but those were underfunded. The result: A growing population of mentally ill people were turned loose to fend for themselves.
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which led to the practice of "dumping"
 
cawacko said:
I have no clue. You know what I know based on the OP.
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I would guess nobody wants to go to a mental institution willingly. I have a friend who had to have a family member committed several times, because every time she was out she became violent. She refused to take her meds, stalked people, beat them up etc.
 
cawacko said:
That's what I thought. But I often read out here people blaming Reagan for the mentally ill on the streets.
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Well Reagan was Governor of Cali when that began but it's a pretty complicated story and it's not like Reagan said "Fuckem throw them in the streets." Nor was itbecause a bunch of feel goody liberals thought they should be freed from mental institutions.

At the time State Mental hospitals were viewed as snake pits and the treatment of patients in them was often deplorable. Kasey's book played a significant role in bringing this problem to the publics awareness. Not only were these State Hospitals snake pits but they costly too.

As it happened psychiatrist convinced legislatures and government officials that the problem could be managed locally and with the use of modern drugs.

This in turn led to mass discharges of patients into community clinics and an over reliance on tranquilizer sand a lack of institutional control and proper evaluation of many of the very serious mentally ill who subsequently ended up on the streets.

So it was t like heartless Republicans threw them out on the Streets or bleeding heart liberals had them freed so much as it was a complex comedy of errors that created a truly tragic situatio
 
cawacko said:
That's what I thought. But I often read out here people blaming Reagan for the mentally ill on the streets.
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The ACLU and liberals complained that the mentally ill were being unjustly punished by being required to be institutionalized and wanted treatment to be as out-patients' because some of the institutions were terrible; but instead of requiring that the level of treatments be improved, they pushed for the release.
Now; as long as the individual isn't diagnosed as being a "threat to himself or others" he can't be required to be treated and the result is, thousands of individuals trying to function in society, without their medication and the reason is, because they can't be "forced" to take their medication.

Just another example of a liberal decision being made, without considering ALL of the long term consequences; when it would have probably been better to push for the improvements first.
 
USFREEDOM911 said:
The ACLU and liberals complained that the mentally ill were being unjustly punished by being required to be institutionalized and wanted treatment to be as out-patients' because some of the institutions were terrible; but instead of requiring that the level of treatments be improved, they pushed for the release.
Now; as long as the individual isn't diagnosed as being a "threat to himself or others" he can't be required to be treated and the result is, thousands of individuals trying to function in society, without their medication and the reason is, because they can't be "forced" to take their medication.

Just another example of a liberal decision being made, without considering ALL of the long term consequences; when it would have probably been better to push for the improvements first.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Thanks for the history (lesson).
 
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