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I've been reading you on here for a while and I respect your experience and deep thoughtfulness on these issues so I'm really interested in your opinion on this

I've been reading you on here for a while and I respect your experience and deep thoughtfulness on these issues so I'm really interested in your opinion on this: what about the other half of the problem? How can we navigate the balance of providing mental health services vs. forced incarceration? I want this to be government funded, but our government has a track record on mental health that literally includes long periods in which "put them on an island" was the official policy for "treating" wide varieties of mentally ill people. What things could we do that would actually make a difference here? Is there any meaningful way to make progress without reducing the freedom of the mentally ill?

DoreenMichele 8y ago
Better nutrition would help a whole lot. It is more effective and more humane than the drugs we prefer. If psychoactive drugs help a mental health issue, you can assume it has medical roots for at least a portion of the problem. Treating the medical roots, which can include various infections, is a good path forward. There used to be an article online called "Diseases of the mind." One thing it talked about: When antibiotics were invented, thousands of people in asylums were successfully treated for syphilis and then set free. Another point it made: Mental illness tends to occur in demographic clusters exactly like infectious disease, which implies it might actually be due to infectious disease. Let me suggest this for a little related reading: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16140867 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16140867 Edit: This is what I am working on: http://pocketputer.com http://pocketputer.com Being homeless and helpless is crazy-making. I want to help people start making money, setting goals, etc while still homeless, like I did. Video from The Loneliness Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYc85A8f2CM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYc85A8f2CM It's aimed at the issue if isolation in the elderly. Homeless people also suffer from social isolation. It's late. I'm tired. I will add that not all personal problems are about being crazy. Some people have learning disabilities or other barriers to regular employment. I feel like this answer really sucks because of the framing of the problem in this subthread. I have tried to answer your actual question, which is a legitimate question, but I think the problem is more complicated than that. :/

DoreenMichele 8y ago

Better nutrition would help a whole lot. It is more effective and more humane than the drugs we prefer. If psychoactive drugs help a mental health issue, you can assume it has medical roots for at least a portion of the problem. Treating the medical roots, which can include various infections, is a good path forward. There used to be an article online called "Diseases of the mind." One thing it talked about: When antibiotics were invented, thousands of people in asylums were successfully treated for syphilis and then set free. Another point it made: Mental illness tends to occur in demographic clusters exactly like infectious disease, which implies it might actually be due to infectious disease. Let me suggest this for a little related reading: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16140867 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16140867 Edit: This is what I am working on: http://pocketputer.com http://pocketputer.com Being homeless and helpless is crazy-making. I want to help people start making money, setting goals, etc while still homeless, like I did. Video from The Loneliness Project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYc85A8f2CM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYc85A8f2CM It's aimed at the issue if isolation in the elderly. Homeless people also suffer from social isolation. It's late. I'm tired. I will add that not all personal problems are about being crazy. Some people have learning disabilities or other barriers to regular employment. I feel like this answer really sucks because of the framing of the problem in this subthread. I have tried to answer your actual question, which is a legitimate question, but I think the problem is more complicated than that. :/