Still more from the families...

Thank you for your discussion of these issues. I have a 21 year old son,currently diagnosed as major psychotic depression possibly schizophrenic, who has had three short term stays in two local psychiatric hospitals. He is now inside,but we don’t know how long they will treat him. It could be as little as four days,up to ninty days depending on a variety of variables. We know from experience that when he’s released in our care(Mom & Dad), the clock is ticking. The best he’s done so far is two weeks,the worst is two days. Whilehe’s out,many are at risk,including us. Again, I thank you for bringing up the unpleasant reality of our mental health programme.

My award for the greatest disservice to our mentally ill goes to Thomas Szasz whose influential book,The Myth of Mental Illness,helped us get to where we are today.