Bipolar Justice

By Sandra Kiume

I hope people will be educated. I would love for this book to spur conversations about the imminent danger clause. Because a parent shouldn’t take a psychotic child to a hospital and be turned away. I just don’t believe that that should happen. I think that’s why I put my own son’s face and put my face in this book. I want people to see that this is what happens, and it’s happening every day in this country. And I want them to see it on a personal, personified level — not just through statistics. Nobody wants to dump people in state hospitals like throwaways. But can we learn from the past? That’s the question.

Investigative journalist Pete Earley writes about his experiences with a bipolar son and the criminal justice system that makes a compelling case for psychiatric hospitals. Crazy: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness is a powerful book about denial of services turning into tragedies when sensational psychotic murders have to happen before a person receives treatment. Decades of deinstitutionalization have made mental illness mean prison for many severely ill people who are made more ill by homelessness and lack of care. Earley suggests some logical but controversial solutions.

Read more at Salon.com – including some thoughtful comments.

Sandra Kiume is a mental health advocate and editor of Channel N who lives in Vancouver, Canada.