How are the courts and mental health service providers working to address mental illness in the criminal justice system?
That was the topic of today鈥檚 鈥淭hink鈥� at 1 p.m. on 四虎影院-FM, 90.1. 鈥淭hink鈥� host Krys Boyd discussed the issue with , author of 鈥淐razy: A Father鈥檚 Search Through America鈥檚 Mental Health Madness鈥� and Ron Stretcher, director of .
Earley will also speak at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday at a in Dallas benefitting , a North Texas nonprofit that helps people with mental illness development disabilities and severe emotional problems.
鈥淚 had no idea,鈥� Earley 鈥淚鈥檇 been a journalist for thirty years and written extensively about crime and punishment and society. But I鈥檇 always been on the outside looking in. I had no idea what it was like to be on the inside looking out 鈥� until my son, Mike, was declared mentally ill.鈥�
Here鈥檚 another excerpt:
One psychiatrist said he had bipolar disorder, another said he showed early stages of schizophrenia, a third said he had schizo-affective disorder. They prescribed a dizzying range of different drugs, different therapies, and, even worse, because he was an adult, I couldn鈥檛 simply swoop in and make medical decisions for him. An array of incompatible laws about patient rights stood in my way, like a line of trees. But even that was nothing compared to what happened when Mike, suffering delusions, committed a crime and was arrested. Suddenly, the line of trees became a forest. The contradictions, the disparities, the Catch-22s, multiplied, until I began to despair. 鈥淚 just feel so damn helpless,鈥� I told my wife, Patti, one night. 鈥淚 want to do something, but I don鈥檛 know how to help him.鈥�
四虎影院 has reported on the search for solutions regarding mental illness in an ongoing project called Erasing the Stigma. 鈥淭hink鈥� discussed in February.
Look back at 四虎影院鈥檚
Last February, 四虎影院 TV and Radio sponsored a forum of speakers and experts to discuss mental illness. Watch the TV special below:
