Mentally Ill and In Jail

Mentally Ill and in Jail

Subject:	"Mentally Ill and in Jail" by Steven Leifman (August 16, 2001)
To:	letters@washpost.com

Re: "Mentally Ill and in Jail" by Steven Leifman (August 16, 2001)

Dear Editor:

This e-mail is written in response to an article by Steven Leifman titled
"Mentally Ill and in Jail." I was most disturbed to read that he believes
mental health laws should be made more restrictive.

I have never been involved in the criminal justice system (outside of an
arrest during an anti-war demonstration during the Vietman War era) yet I am
what one would call a noncompliant psychiatric patient.

I was involuntarily committed four times and had psychotropic drugs foced on
me by court order on two occasions. I was never a danger to myself or others
and I doubt that I will ever be for I am a staunch supporter of nonviolence.
However, reading my hospital records one would not believe this for they are
full of misrepresentations and false allegations.

I don't know what the "perfect" solution to the problem of the dangerous
mentally ill is but I most assuredly do not believe it is in making mental
health laws more restrictive.

As it stands now these laws are too often violated and people who do not need
nor want toxic psychotropic drugs have them forced upon them.

It is my opinion that the mental health system needs to be drastically
reformed whereby psychiatrists and others in the "helping" professions act
out of compassion and understanding rather than out of ignorance and force
and a sense of onmipotence and omniscience.

Sincerely,
Victoria D. Gaines
PROUDNut@aol.com

111 E. Baltimore St.
Hagerstown, MD 21740
240-420-0375

http://www.crosswinds.net/~vdgaines - The Story of a PROUD Nutcase (Original)
http://www.geocities.com/vdgaines/index.html - The Story of a PROUD Nutcase
(New!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a result of starved mental health systems and antiquated treatment laws that stress the right to be sick over the right to get well, hundreds of thousands of people are now in America's jails or prisons because of actions caused by untreated mental illness. Who knows better the folly of making treatment predicated on dangerousness than a criminal court judge? Floridian Judge Leifman's conclusions come after having to consign scores, if not hundreds, of people with treatable illnesses to incarceration rather than treatment

Opinions expressed in this web site do not necessarily reflect the views of NAMI Santa Cruz County, NAMI California or any affiliated organizations. We attempt to present a balanced perspective on issues by presenting multiple viewpoints.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This may contain copyrighted (©) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.