Hello Everyone,
For your third Writing Journal assignment, please read the following article: “Compassion Compulsion and the Mentally Ill" by E. Fuller Torrey, Wall Street Journal. (Eastern Edition). New York, N.Y.: Jun 9, 2008. p. A.17
- From Falvey Library's homepage (on the left side), choose "Databases A-Z."
- Then choose "ABI/INFORM Global (ProQuest)."
- Next, click on the "Publications" tab.
- Choose Wall Street Journal: Eastern Edition.
- Write the article’s title or author in the “Search for articles . . .” data field, and perform your search.
You’re welcome to respond to the article however you wish. I do encourage you, though, to consider the following:
Do you think the ideas discussed in the article need to be treated as a homelessness issue, a mental health issue, or something else? Why?
Consider the arguments both for and against keeping people with severe mental illnesses confined to institutions. Which arguments do you find to be persuasive? Why? Which arguments are weak? Why?
Suppose the medical community determines that a person must take medication, otherwise he may become a danger to himself and others. What can or should be done if he refuses? Do such patients have a right to refuse treatment?
Please include the following information as a heading on your work:
Your name
Eng1050 – 20
Writing Journal Assignment #3
Please post your Writing Journal response to this article (200 - 250 words) by Thursday, October 1, 2009.
Have a good day.
Mr. Dierkes
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Samantha Cerasiello
ReplyDeleteEng 1050-20
Journal Assignment #3
I believe Dr. Torrey’s article raises a very important issue concerning mental health and the lack of government concern and funding for care of those who suffer from a mental illness. There is a serious need in our country for better care of those inflicted with a mental disease. It seems that the only way to get the proper care for these illnesses is to become imprisoned. The article brings up very interesting points concerning the link between mental illness and homicide and homelessness rates. Numbers do not lie in these situations, and each state should use these statistics as a warning and a catalyst to initiate more preventative measure. Those with serious mental health problems need stronger advocates fighting for their proper care in order to ensure the number of homicides and suicides decrease.
I believe that people who pose a very serious threat to society should be institutionalized, but if the illness can be controlled through regular medication Kendra’s Law seems to be a good alternative. Federal or state funding for aids or guaranteed transportation to and from a clinic to get medicine may be very beneficial. If those who are mentally ill are provided with a bus to and from a clinic where someone administers them the proper medication and ensures they have taken it, the rates of homelessness and homicides may decrease. If a person refuses treatment and poses a serious threat to the well-being of others, they should be institutionalized. Endangering other people, when the injury can be prevented is neglectful and irresponsible of the government. The quality of this care does need to be good. These people deserve compassionate and trained professionals assisting them. It is a sad reflection upon our society that many prisoners receive better care than the mentally ill.
Matt Casalaina
ReplyDeleteEnglish 1050
Writing Journal Assignment #3
The main issue that Dr. Torrey alludes to in this work is the lack of attention given to mentally unstable individuals. Though they are given care while institutionalized, after their “sentence”, they are cast back into the world and not given a second glance. Subsequently, many of these former patients resume their old habits and thought processes. I think what society fails to realize is that these people are sick, not in the proverbial sense that their bodies are aching, but the pain that inflicts their minds is their condition. A doctor that was intensely treating a parent for cancer would not release the patient until he was sure the cancer had gone into remission. Even after that, there would be scheduled checkups and screenings to make sure the symptoms had subsided. Such is not the case in the mental health industry.
Torrey calls it the “debacle of deinstitutionalization” because of the issues society has when the patients are released. It is important to look at the results of this “deinstitutionalization” so we can gain a further understanding of the problem as we search for the solution. Statistics show in some areas of the country, mental illness is the cause of as high as 10% of homicides in the area. The government and the health industry should be held accountable for this statistic, because they do not attempt to aid the patients after they are liberated. Institutionalized individuals should be discharged with the agreement that they will continue to take medication, and be subject to meetings to monitor their progress. Much like prisons have halfway-houses and parole officers, the same regulations should be imposed upon mental health patients. This will help to control their behavior and ease their transition back into society. Until a doctor deems that progress has been made outside of the hospital and the individual does not have to be medicated any longer, it should not be the choice of the patient. This is the only way to ensure the safety of the released person, and society at large.
The article brings up a good issue that I believe we need to immediately address. The studies in the article tell us that between 10-29% of homicides are committed by the mentally ill in the respective areas. If more of these studies are done throughout the country and results are on par with the three, then the nation does not face a homelessness or mental house issue; it faces a more menacing issue. I would call it an epidemic since the number of mentally, according to the article, is one third of the country’s population and also the number of them in jail outnumbers the number in mental institutions. The violence the mentally ill causes not only affect them, but also the people they hurt as well as the community where the crime takes place.
ReplyDeleteI believe the author of this article has a very convincing reason to keep the mentally ill in institutions. The cost is too great for them to be out in society. Its costs more for them to be re-hospitalized, jail costs, etc. But not only in monetary terms, but also the emotional cost of the violence and crimes on the victims, family, friends, and the community.
However, he does make an argument for Kendra’s law, which allows the mentally ill to roam free in society under the condition they will continue to take their medications. I totally agree with this as well and if they refuse they need to be put back into a mental institution. Mentally ill patients should not have the right to refuse medication or treatment. The only right they have is the access to have adequate and appropriate treatment for their illness.
This article is considered a homelessness and mental health. With seriously mental ill people not obtaining the proper treatment, they have no choice but to roam the streets with a disoriented mindset; they are misunderstood by many. With there being a large amount of people having mental problems, it is a health topic that should not be put off. If these people are simply released even when not fully ready, they have a negative presence within society. With the multiple examples of people with serious mental illnesses, there is a threat to society as the security of communities’ decreases.
ReplyDeleteIf people with mental illnesses are released, it is definitely the institute’s responsibility to make sure that these people are receiving the treatment they need. The institute needs to enforce that their outpatient’s receive their treatment. It is important that the institute try and work things out with the patient rather than just let the patient live their life and easily make decisions on their own. Patients still have a right to refuse treatment because they have their own free will. However, it may seem that their own decisions may be clouded because they are mentally ill. Even though, what is most important is that help is offered to those that need it.