Criminal Justice Forum

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allen-frances/is-this-the-worst-time-ev_b_5654808.html

This article struck home as I recently attended a candidate forum held at a well known drug rehabilitation center in my county.

Each candidate after their brief speech was asked some questions relating to their support of funding for drug and mental health treatment.

Of course they all gave positive answers and I’m sure most were sincere.

For the past twenty years all the politicians seemed sincere but still Florida is 49th in spending for the mentally ill and our governor refuses to allow the state to roll its medicaid program into the Affordable Care Act.

The painful answer is the politicians don’t care nor does the general public till it effects someone they love.

We saw what can be accomplished recently for Veterans and believe me when I say the comparison is more valid than we want to admit.

The politicians once more didn’t care. The public didn’t care. It took public embarrassment , shame and veteran outrage for them to do the right thing.

We’ve had mass killings, packed jails and prisons, and rampant homelessness.  All of which should have been a clarion call to action and yet nothing.

What more will it take?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allen-frances/is-this-the-worst-time-ev_b_5654808.html

My personal response to this depressing question would have to be an ashamed ‘Yes’ for the United States; a relieved ‘No’ for most of the rest of the developed world.

Admittedly, though, I am not the best person to provide a long view answer. We will soon be turning to Professor Edward Shorter, an eminent historian of psychiatry, to compare our current mistreatment of the severely ill with the practices of past epochs. Full Article >>>