Re:Review: The Best Minds, by Jonathan Rosen
by m463 on Tuesday March 14, 2023 @08:11PM
(#35161640)
I think of the mess of mental health in california.
Apparently in the past, there might have been perverse incentives to keep mentally ill people institutionalized, which might have prevented some people from ever escaping the system. They were called "snake pits".
Eventually there was reform of the laws, and the mentally ill gained rights and some could get better and be released.
Unfortunately the real tragedy happened when then-governor Reagan cut mental health funding and most mentally ill people were released and could not get adequate care.
And that system survives, with the only way of getting care for mentally ill people is if they are "a danger to themselves or others". I suspect a good portion of the california homeless might be the fallout of this decision.
Apparently in the past, there might have been perverse incentives to keep mentally ill people institutionalized, which might have prevented some people from ever escaping the system. They were called "snake pits".
Eventually there was reform of the laws, and the mentally ill gained rights and some could get better and be released.
Unfortunately the real tragedy happened when then-governor Reagan cut mental health funding and most mentally ill people were released and could not get adequate care.
And that system survives, with the only way of getting care for mentally ill people is if they are "a danger to themselves or others". I suspect a good portion of the california homeless might be the fallout of this decision.