bipolar parent and child custody
Through thousands of anecdotal reports documented for forty years and traces the legal history of mental illness in the 1940s, Dr. Torrey, a prominent psychiatrist, effectively makes the link between one per cent of people living with mental illness who are at risk of violent behavior. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression are Dr. Torrey objective mental health areas. A portion of this population does not recognize their illness, do not take their medications and often abuse alcohol and drugs. It is this segment of people with mental illness more often the screen, or are at risk for dangerous and violent behavior. It is also the segment of people with mental illness, unfortunately, most stigmatizing people with mental illness who "make good neighbors."
"One of the great social disasters of recent American history" is the aptly coined the phrase of Dr. Torrey used to describe consequences of laws and policies that have led to increased homelessness, imprisonment, violence and homicides with mental illness. More importantly, laws and legislative policies have caused much anguish past and the pain of many families with mentally ill dear.
During the past fifty years hundreds of thousands of people have been released from mental hospitals as a result of involuntary civil commitment demands and rights civil lawsuits that said a person with mental illness have the right to refuse to take medication, despite the medications are effective in treating the person. The results led to the institutionalization which subsequently led to documented homelessness, violence, imprisonment and tragedy for a segment of the mentally ill patient population.
One of the cases documented by Dr. Torrey outlines in his book involves an intelligent young man who at the age of sixteen was diagnosed with schizophrenia and considered dangerous. It was in-and-out of hospitals repeatedly threatened to kill his mother, sister and son. His behavior became increasingly erratic, as he got older. For over ten years of his mother and sister tried in vain to get help. Finally, in desperation and love in not wanting to see suffer the rest of his life he was killed. Dr. Torrey agreed to testify pro bono for the defense at trial but the lawyer refused. Unfortunately, Dr. Torrey that several times a year to someone in the United States makes the same decision. "Faced with what appears to be inevitable, the unthinkable becomes thinkable."
Another documented case by Dr. Torrey related to a 2004 case involving a young woman with bipolar disorder who was not taking his medication, his mother strangled and stabbed to death his sister and her young son. His father, a lawyer, said: "If I had any idea this would happen, I would have gone away, killed my son, and turned me in. .. "
Dr. Torrey belief is that the system treats people with mental illness is woefully deficit. He makes the strong case it is imperative that mental health policies be reformed and that the policy mandate of the extremely mentally ill who are dangerous may or may receive treatment clearly needed. The last chapter of his book is devoted to measures to be taken to successfully solve this system woefully ineffective.
This book is essential reading for anyone with a loved one who suffers from mental illness and all other persons affected with mental illness and the subset of people with potential for violence.
Justine Landes
Co-author: Nehemiah Landes
