August 21, 2007

The Deinstitutionalization Blues

Liz Spikol has a good post on a state hospital being closed in Pennsylvania, her concerns about how deinstitutionalization has been screwed up in the past (you know, the epic screw-ups of the 1980s that birthed tens of thousands of homeless people, etc.) and a report from the Kaiser Foundation on how it can be done better. So go read.

Personally, I have written so much copy in my career on the whirlwind we've reaped as a result of deinstitutionalization that it pains me to see where it could get screwed up once again. Even on a small scale. The solutions are pretty damn simple and are mostly driven by adequate housing and health care delivery. The Treatment Advocacy Center crew would have you believe that these screw-ups have been as a result of patients not taking their meds and that all anyone has to do is take their meds and we'll end homelessness in America. That's so far off-base that it would amuse me for hours detailing how. But I don't have the time to get into it right now.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at August 21, 2007 03:33 PM
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Comments

Torrey isn't concerned with patients. He's got his eye on the Big Pharma money. Most people, including myself, would exhibit symptoms of mental illness if forced to live on the street. Homelessness should be outlawed. Three squares and a flop. How hard is that?

Posted by: Francesca Allan at August 21, 2007 06:41 PM

I am going to put a disclaimer on my words that I write, because I do not claim to understand or get all of it but:

When I have spent hours with many homeless[without homes, living in cars, under bridges, etc.]people, several women in particular tell me they knew what Seroquel was, and that it fucked up their [grown sons for example]and that they, [the women only a few years older than me]had a meth addiction, and that meth was better than what they saw happen on Seroquel.

When I said I was bipolar, she said she was schizophrenic and hated psych meds. Seroquel came up so many times in the conversation it was unbelievable. She chose meth vs.Seroquel.

Because "Seroquel fucks people up, and makes them worse."
I'm not a reporter, I just plant flowers under bridges./

Posted by: Stephany at August 21, 2007 06:55 PM

Stephany, I'm not a chemist, and I don't take any drugs unless you count the Margaritas and cheese dip (which you probably should;), but I think you may be on to something. Meth of course is a dangerous drug, probabaly almost as bad as Seroquel. I've never tried either one. Marijuana which I haven't smoked since high school would I think be much better for anxiety than klonopin which I took by prescription and was at least somewhat addicted to. Coca leaves, unprocessed cocaine, are used in tea ( http://www.geocities.com/~kenghor/south-america/e-coca.htm ) with only positive effects in Peru, or so I hear. Maybe something like that, an unprocessed herb tea would be better for supposed adhd than Daytrilazone or whatever the latest supposedly safe big pharma drug is.

Posted by: Sally at August 22, 2007 09:47 AM
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