Michigan went through a particularly Shiny phase some years ago, where the vast majority of state mental hospitals were closed, and the patients tossed on the street. The result is the people who should be in a mental ward, land in the county jails. The important thing, to the (L&Ses) in Lansing, is the cost of their care has been moved off of Lansing’s budget, and put on the county books, instead.
Steve
That wasn’t just a state thing. Saint Ronnie the handsome cut most Federal spending on mental hospitals, with the same result you noted - the mentally ill become criminals and jails turn into mental wards.
–Peter
The emptying out of mental wards began before Reagan, something like 10 to 15 years before!
Much of it by Reagan, as Governor of California.
And let’s not forget that he spearheaded the repeal of the Mental Health Act of 1980 as part of his 1981 budget.
So while Reagan may not have been the sole stimulus for the cuts to mental health spending, he was a highly visible advocate of it and did a lot during his times in office to cut mental health funding.
–Peter
It’s important to remember that there was a lot of liberal pushback to the practice of rounding up mentally ill people and involuntarily committing them. For all-too-many of those institutions back in the 1970’s, “mental hospital” was a euphemism - many were horrible places, little better than jails, and in some ways worse. Liberal thinking at the time was that these state-run mass mental hospitals were inhumane, that receiving mental health treatment had to be a choice, that and that anyone who wasn’t an actual threat (to themselves or others) should be given the right to choose not to do so, if they wanted.
Unfortunately, they completely failed to anticipate how poorly it would go for so many of these people once discharged from the mental wards:
Reformers who advocated for the closure of hospitals in good faith believed that people, once discharged, could quickly and easily integrate into the rest of society. Setting up any kind of social safety net [never seems] to have been a priority, and the ramshackle network of group homes and supported housing that exists has never been adequately funded. Architects of this system like Robert Felix [conceded] that they had oversold how easily it could be accomplished.
That’s not to say the current system isn’t a horrific tragedy on all levels - just to point out that the old system was also horrible, in its own different way.
In Michigan, the legislature that passed the bill, and the Gov who signed it, were exceptionally Shiny. The Gov that closed down the hospitals claimed the patients would be better cared for by their local communities. Of course, the local communities didn’t have the money, but it got the cost off Lansing’s books, which was the only thing that mattered to the Gov and (L&Ses).
We are not blaming the victim. You are assuming she was reasonable? She certainly is not reasonable. We do not know what was offered to her as an alternative.
The medical profession does give up on people long after the individual has given up on himself or herself. The medical profession is the last to give up. Patients give up on themselves very quickly in many cases.
She seems to refuse any care. Other than climbing into one bed she was not going to get.
Blame? Lets put it this way we have the freedom to make a lot of choices. We also have to live or die by those choices. Doctors and police officers can not stop that. That is not blame.
As for the stroke that was tragic. We can not blame anyone for that not the victim or the police.
Should the officers have worked with her better? Yes but that was not going to be easy at all.
It is not just dollars that got her out of that bed she wanted. It is a matter probably of care. Meaning she belonged in another setting perhaps. The bed was needed for other duties. She was seemingly completely oblivious to anything like that. Who knows. Hospital beds are not just sitting around for anyone to claim them. That is not a money issue.
I watched the video. She told the officers she had trouble breathing. The article says she also told the officers if they continued the way they were, she would die. Turned out, she was right. Others have warned officers they could not breath. The officers continued sitting on them. They died.
Where do you separate the drama queens, the perps trying to con the officer into backing off, so they can make a break, and the people who are in a life threatening condition? Currently, the practice seems to be akin to a 17th century witch trial, where they threw the witch into a lake. If the person did not drown, she was a witch, and would be executed. If the person drowned, she was innocent of witchcraft, but dead.
Steve
She was having trouble breathing. She may have had trouble breathing for years.
The officers were not sitting on her.
She had a stroke because of her general health. Her stress level was not caused by the officers.
She is not a drama queen. I am not trying to denigrate her. Meaning her actions and health were hers but not to be made fun of. The officers should have been kinder towards her. But she is not striking me as someone who ever takes responsibility in her life. She was not working with anyone.
If in the 17th century she was in a witch trial you’d have all sorts of points.
To me this is symptomatic of the world that we live in.
She was seen and treated as worthless. She did not matter to anyone. If you can’t make money from her then pass her onto someone else. No one should be disrespected like this.
Compare and contrast to the treatment of some crooked banker who wants a government bailout.
Hitler had a solution for people like her.
She looks like she was more of a party girl. That was her freedom. That was her choice.
Doctors tell people for decades that certain life style choices are not good for you. That is gold plated care. People ignore that advice left and right all day long.
No one owes you good health.
Hitler? Really? The people involved are honest hard working decent people regardless of a few cops not having much patience.