User WryBread points out on a post at the Dreamin' Demon about a real cold-hearted one (wife claims he was mentally ill) that drowned his six month old infant:
Nowadays it's HARD to obtain help for the mentally ill. Just getting on a wait list is a big step forward. We need long-term residential care for the mentally ill, but Reagan ended that in the 1980s with the help of health-care "professionals" who thought that having the mentally ill living among us was going to be a happy situation. Then when you get the help, the staff sends them home without notice, changes their meds capriciously, and when the # of days on your insurance is up, home they come or they go to a much worse place.
Here is my thoughts: The majority of people with mental illness do not have to be institutionalized, but there are some that do. It is very difficult to get these individuals into a safe situation. Yeah--thanks, Ronnie! And for those that aren't dangerous, some are still unable to hold a job, and are forced to live in awful conditions. Myself, I am able to hold a job but I am marginalized. I can't pay for counseling. I just fly by the seat of my pants.
