In the US the Supreme Court ruled in 1978 that unless an individual was a threat to themselves or others they couldn't be institutionalized. This was one step o

In the US the Supreme Court ruled in 1978 that unless an individual was a threat to themselves or others they couldn't be institutionalized. This was one step of a much bigger reform of care for those that are disabled or mentally ill called deinstitutionalization. In the past those with mental illness or disability were locked up in facilities with little support for reintegration into society. In many cases being committed was effectively a life sentence. There were also cases of abuse of the system where people were committed for rebelling against parents, homosexuality or political dissidence. Deinstitutionalization was supposed to transition patients to community based care but it was never funded to the level that would have been needed to support the transition. Even in the US today mental health care is typically the bastard child of the US health care system with minimal coverage. A $50,000 dollar a year arthritis medication is covered but only a couple of days to stabilize a patient in a mental health crisis. I'm not sure if community based care would have ever worked even with the right funding and that a lot of the addiction and mental health issues may be related to the lack of environments that support mental health. I'm pretty sure that the alternative from earlier in the century also isn't the right approach.