,
10 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
THREAD:
A really important thing to remember in this trump institutions BS:
Institutions were closed down because lax regulation and absent oversight lead to horrific abuses of the mentally ill and disabled. It was pretty damn awful. 1/X
A really important thing to remember in this trump institutions BS:
Institutions were closed down because lax regulation and absent oversight lead to horrific abuses of the mentally ill and disabled. It was pretty damn awful. 1/X
There was a HUGE push in the 70s to move to "Community Based" care- where people weren't institutionalized, but received supports in their own homes, and their own communities. Laws were enacted that made it harder to institutionalize someone, and mandated community care. 2/X
And this was *GOOD*. For the vast majority, this is what's needed. They don't need the restrictive, isolating environment of an institution. Even residential group homes are a better idea than hospitalization. 3/X
And then came Reagan. Who hacked federal funding for most of the community based services. Very little of that funding has been re-enacted. So we've had *decades* where the law says "Keep them at home", but there's not enough funding for the services that make that viable. 4/X
Add in the atrocious way we stigmatize mental health issues, the fact that mental health services are absolutely underfunded *across the board*, and you have a systemic victimization of the mentally ill. 5/X
The thing is, sometimes an "institution" or more regulated, structured mental health facility is EXACTLY what's needed- for crisis care, for long term care, even for things like "We need to adjust meds and they'll need to be monitored." 6/X
THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH BEDS. Anywhere. There is no state that has active vacancies just waiting to be filled in any of their facilities. Most of the places that can do crisis care have *waiting lists*. 7/X
Imagine that... that you're in a mental health state of crisis- and they can *put you on a wait list*. If you're "lucky", you went to the ER, and now you're in a "ER Psychiatric Overflow" while you wait. 8/X
Said overflow created because the hospital can't release you if you're unsafe, but the law says you can't stay in the ER, but you have no place else to go.
That's where we're at. There's not enough services, not enough places for people to go. 9/X
That's where we're at. There's not enough services, not enough places for people to go. 9/X
So while Herr Cheeto's "more institutions" thing is mindless BS- it *absolutely* needs to start a dialogue about how horrifically inadequate our mental health care -from access to services, to needed facilities and resources- really is in the USA. 10/10
