Our son is schizophrenic. An asylum, not jail, saved his life.
We have been published numerous times, always on the same subject – mental health. Our intent is to help educate others through our firsthand experiences with our son's schizophrenia.
In a Wall Street Journal article published last month, "It's Time to Bring Back Asylums," author David Oshinsky wrote: "Unsurprisingly, the nation's three largest mental health facilities are the Los Angeles County Jail, the Cook County Jail in Chicago, and Rikers Island in New York City. Approximately one-quarter of their inmates have been diagnosed with a serious mental disorder."
We can't begin to imagine how abandoned they must feel. Warehousing the mentally ill in jails is the cruelest of options. Thankfully, our family has found a more humane alternative.
Our son is now in a mental hospital
After months in a local hospital recovering from a medical crisis, our son was transferred to a Florida state mental hospital. Gregory's medication regimen was changed, with very positive results. The mania was silenced, and his social skills began to improve.
Now 37, he's also attending daily therapy sessions on how to better deal with his illness.
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We are thankful for his placement in this hospital beyond what words can describe. But roadblocks to this positive approach continue.
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A telling 2018 National Review article provides the numbers we can't ignore: "From its historic peak in 1955 to 2016, the number of state psychiatric-hospital beds in the United States plummeted almost 97 percent, in a trend known as 'deinstitutionalization.' There are now fewer beds per capita in the United States than there were in 1850."
Shortages of hospital beds and staffing
Florida’s state mental hospitals are filled to near capacity, not just because of bed availability but also due to apparent staff shortages. Some personal observations of two Florida hospitals:
Our son's wait for a bed in a state mental hospital with 930 beds was measured in weeks. The staff was as caring and dedicated as they could be, but it was obvious they were experiencing personnel shortages and funding limitations. Additionally, there were still tarps over roof damage following a hurricane two years before. Budget constraints appeared to cause the delay in repairs.
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With Gregory's most recent hospitalization for mental illness, we were very lucky to wait less than two weeks. But of the 613 beds at this facility, roughly two-thirds are in use – again, apparently due to staff and funding shortages.
However, as we explained earlier, the care provided there is exceptional.
So, our closing argument is this: Even asylums as portrayed in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" can be transformed into real solutions.
We just need to convince our legislators it's time to address this and other options to deal with the state’s ongoing (and growing) mental health crisis.
Richard and Kathleen Marquis live in St. Augustine, Florida. This column first published at the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jails don't help those with mental health issues. Asylums do
