While the last decade has shown improvement in terms of compassion, awareness and action for America's mentally ill, there have also been obvious and drastic failures.
Mental health patients without financial or family support are still being turfed out of hospitals, treated like criminals and being put on buses to other cities and states with nothing more than 24 hours worth of medication and a packed lunch.
The New York Times reported on Sept. 21, 2013 about the story of a mentally ill man named David Theisen.
Theisen was living in Las Vegas until he was picked up by authorities after he threatened suicide with a knife. He was sent to a psychiatric center for treatment.
But Theisen received no treatment. He was put on a bus with a small amount of medication and some food, bound for San Francisco. He was out of sight and out of mind, as far as the Nevada health system was concerned.
Once he got off the bus, he was homeless, with no source of income and no medication. He somehow survived with help from a shelter and miniscule welfare payments.
And now, with the help of San Francisco attorney Dennis Herrera, he and 24 others just like him are suing the state of Nevada for their actions. These twenty five mental health patients are not alone.
According to Herrera, in the last few years about 1500 mentally ill men and women were bussed all over the country by the Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Center in Nevada -- which is a State run facility -- as well as by other mental health centers. Herrera estimates that one-third of these people were shipped to California.
"“It’s horrifying,” Herrera said.
“I think we can all agree that our most vulnerable and at-risk people don’t deserve this sort of treatment: no meds, no medical care, a destination where they have no contacts and know no one.”
But what makes it “even more tragic,” Herrera said, “is that on top of the inhumane treatment, the State of Nevada was trying to have another jurisdiction shoulder the financial responsibility for caring for these people.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/us/once-suicidal-and-shipped-off-now-b...
There have long been rumors of this kind of policy, Herrera believes, but it was often hearsay and innuendo. He believes this lawsuit will prove that not only are these rumors true, they were policy in Nevada.
In a FoxNews article, "How mental health is killing America" which was republished with permission on EmpowHER, , Dr. Sreedhar Potarazu informed us that more than 30 percent of adult Americans have experienced some form of mental illness and this number does not include minors under the age of 18.
Additionally, about one in three chronically physically ill persons will have mental health issues too. Potarazu stated that 40 percent of students entering university are on some form of medication for their mental health.
Dr. Potarazu went on to say, "The challenge for individuals in seeking care is that medical necessity, as deemed by an insurance carrier or other care coordinator, sometimes comes in the way, and people are sometimes told they don’t need to see a psychiatrist or it’s not medically necessary."
He believes this to be the case for some of the mass shooters America seems to see all too often. He worries that while many are getting treatment and medication, many more are not being evaluated properly or deemed candidates for mental health management. Or, as in the case of the class action suit in California, are blatantly ignored or refused the care they need.
As for the Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Center in Nevada, it recently lost its accreditation, several of its higher-ups were fired and efforts are being made to change their discharge procedure.
But it's not enough for those who suffered from the Center's negligence. Its victims are hoping that this legal suit will draw national attention to mental health policies, and pay some sort of compensation for what they have been put through.
Sources:
The New York Times. Health. "Once Suicidal and Shipped Off, Now Battling Nevada Over Care". Web. Retrieved September 22nd, 2013.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/us/once-suicidal-and-shipped-off-now-b...
EmpowHER.com. Mental Health. " How mental health is killing America". Web. Retrieved September 22nd, 2013.
https://www.empowher.com/mental-health/content/how-mental-health-killing...
Reviewed September 24, 2013
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith