What People Have to Say

Reading the news can often evoke thoughts about many things.  Now, on most newspaper website, readers can share their thoughts.  One such article posted on the Treatment Advocacy Center’s news ticker details a Miami woman’s decline from mental illness.  The article in the Miami Herald provoked some very insightful reader comments.  Here is just a sample.

“…the mental health system around here is terrible. Jackson Memorial [Hospital] gives their patients meds for 3 days and then releases them into the wild. No wonder they end up back in the Crisis Center every few weeks or months.”

“I had a family member with the same diagnosis but her situation never got this bad. She was delusional from time to time but never dirty or totally unmanageable. The system is not here to support mentally challenged people, it is here to cater to the rich and connected people unfortunately. Like everything else there is an urgent need for serious mental health facilities and assistance.”

“Why can't the police department implement the Bacon Act, and have her committed and then she can obtain medication. She is a danger to herself...”

“Mental illness is a brain disease. If we saw someone clutching their chest suffering from heart disease, we would call 911 and they would be rushed to the hospital. It's odd that we treat people with a brain disease so differently.”