Letters to the Editor: Families of mentally ill Californians need Newsom's CARE Courts

To the editor. I bristled at your statement in favor of "supported decision making ... in which a person who recognizes that his or her capacity for making key decisions about care is compromised and selects one or more trusted family members, friends or agents to discuss options and make recommendations. The patient ultimately retains final decision-making power." ("The false promise of Gov. Gavin Newsom's CARE courts," editorial, July 26)

Has anyone on your editorial board dealt with a family member suffering serious delusions along with depression and suicidal behaviors? I have, for many years. A patient cannot make decisions for their own well-being until the patient is stabilized.

Had we allowed my family member to make her own "decisions," she would have been half-naked, delirious and in pain on the street. Thank God for my brother who willingly petitioned to be her legal guardian and the judge who declared her incompetent.

My sister was put into a safe living environment where she got the treatment she needed. You have no idea how difficult it was to achieve this outcome.

She died from a seizure-disorder-related stroke, but she was able to have as best a quality of life as possible given her psychological and neurological problems. This was a much better outcome than her driving drunk, attacking people who she thought insulted her and wandering the street.

Mary Pierson, Manhattan Beach

..

To the editor: You write, "Experience demonstrates that people battling mental illness do better, for longer, when they retain as much of their personal autonomy as their situation allows."

No, experience does not show that at all.

Experience shows that a significant percentage of people who suffer from the most severe forms of schizophrenia-related illnesses do not do better unless they are treated for as long as it takes to enable them to gain the insight necessary to meaningfully exercise their personal autonomy in ways that promote their recovery.

We need more treatment options for those who "want" treatment. But the crisis in our system is that for people who are too sick to "want" treatment, there is nothing but the endless cycling between jail, short stays in acute ("crisis") facilities and the streets.

The CARE Court proposal is not perfect, but please, let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. CARE Courts would represent a first in California history: holding every county in the state accountable for treating seriously mentally ill individuals with the appropriate level of care that they need and deserve.

Brian Bloom, Berkeley

The writer is a former assistant public defender for Alameda County.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.