3 ms·
> If they are imprisoning people illegally, I imagine the settlements would be quite high per patient. That depends on whether or not anyone cares about the pa
by ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
> If they are imprisoning people illegally, I imagine the settlements would be quite high per patient.
That depends on whether or not anyone cares about the patient.
Many, many psych patients have basically been disowned by their families, they have no friends, and don't have the ability to live on their own in society. Maybe the lawyers would care enough about them, if they could win a suit, but I'd not bet on that.
I'd suspect that a huge number of homeless folks were ones that would have been "lifers" in mental hospitals. The enormous homeless problem in the US is actually relatively new. I remember when it was much, much less of a problem (We have always had them, but nowhere near the scale we have them, now).
We live in a nation, where it is easier for mentally ill people to get weapons, than help[0].
That said, in MD, where I lived for a while, we had The Patuxent Institution[1]. It may still be around. Charming place. It inspired this movie[2].
[0] https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/08/24/nx-s1-5028551/insurance-therapy-therapist-mental-health-coverage https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/08/24/nx...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patuxent_Institution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patuxent_Institution
[2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078043/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078043/
- watwut 2y ago> Many, many psych patients have basically been disowned by their families, they have no friends, and don't have the ability to live on their own in society. Maybe the lawyers would care enough about them, if they could win a suit, but I'd not bet on that. What after winning the suit? I mean, if they dont have the ability to live on their own, what happens with them?
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y agoThe lawyers don't care. Neither does anyone else. They'll probably get cheated out of whatever winnings they get, and end up back on the street.
- in_cahoots 2y agoThe article isn’t 100% clear, but it sounds like these are people with private insurance. So if they’re not directly employed, they are likely married to someone who is. This doesn’t sound like they’re targeting indigents.
- Der_Einzige 2y agoI’d rather see tons of homeless on the street, free from government tyranny, rather than live in the one flew over the cuckoo nest hell scape that conservatives want to fling us back into. Thank god for Ken Kasey and thank god for desinsitutionalization and the anti-psychiatry movement.
- AStonesThrow 2y agoMost of those homeless folks are institutionalized in a very real, albeit virtual way. They're being held in chemical restraints and they're being continually monitored by clinicians when they do mandatory check-ins and doctor visits. The clinicians are also alerted, and swoop in, upon word of legal trouble or health crises. The effects of medications will encourage patients to act out, decompensate, commit acts of self-harm and violence upon others. The strategy is to get them jailed or cause serious bodily harm/death, because... Well let's just say that the incentives are perverse. Whereas lunatics of old wore visible chains and straitjackets, and were mercifully housed, fed, and clothed, now they are largely on their own, sink or swim; hope some other human family member cares enough to pick up the pieces.
- squigz 2y agoI don't think the choice is between "no government oversight" and "far-right hellscape"
- Der_Einzige 2y agoIt 100% is if you live in an economic prosperous state. The middle died in America and the wingcucks are in control of the parties. Of course, you can point to some centrist flyover states, but in anywhere worth living, it’s either extreme blue team or extreme red team policies.
- squigz 2y agoI wonder how much this line of thinking serves to reinforce the very issue it's concerned about.