General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Reagan deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and the incredible increase of crime in the US [View all]LuvNewcastle
(16,869 posts)People without insurance and/or caring friends and family are completely fucked. They usually end up committing suicide or they're victimized, either by people on the street or in the prisons.
Even if a judge sends them to a mental hospital after they've committed some crime, they're treated with the drugs they need, and when they become stable they're released without the ability to continue buying their meds.
If they're lucky, they'll get set up with a free program to help the mentally ill continue counseling and provide free meds, but the knowledge about these programs isn't generally known. You have to know people who can help set you up.
This country should be ashamed for the way the mentally ill are treated here. Unfortunately, a mass murder is too often the only cry for help that's ever heard in America.