Reddit Reddit reviews Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness

We found 9 Reddit comments about Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness
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9 Reddit comments about Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness:

u/sirpogo · 4 pointsr/WTF

Please read this. It's the story of my cousin.

I'd also look into http://www.nami.org/
You're not alone in experiencing something like this, and it'll get better for your friend.

u/Bartlebuss · 3 pointsr/todayilearned

For anyone interested in the issue of mental health and prisons in America I highly recommend "Crazy: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness" by Pete Early. It's a disturbing account of how most of the mentally ill get their treatment through prison systems and ends up with the situations mces97 and gnovos are going through.

http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Fathers-Through-Americas-Madness/dp/0425213897

u/nezumipi · 3 pointsr/NoStupidQuestions

In addition to the broad reasons which are discussed in the wikipedia article linked to by /u/shesgotsauce below, there's actually a very specific answer to this question.

It used to be fairly easy to institutionalize someone, including both the mentally ill and the developmentally disabled. Institutions were mostly terrible places with little care provided, poor sanitation, etc. Sometimes they were staffed by caring people, but the funding wasn't there and they were truly awful.

Then, a lawsuit was brought on behalf of an institutionalized woman, claiming the "right to treatment". Basically, if the government was going to lock you up for being ill, they had to actually be treating you. The court ruled in favor of the patient and "right to treatment" became the law of the land. Since institutions of the time mainly provided comfort care, not actual treatment, they had to let patients go. Add this to the fact that the most effective treatment of major mental illness (medication) was rapidly falling in price and gaining acceptance, it was far cheaper to deinstitutionalize.

If you want to read about the process of deinstitutionalization and its long-term consequences, I highly recommend Pete Earley's book Crazy.

u/polarbearparade · 2 pointsr/BipolarReddit

My heart goes out to you. I feel bad for my boyfriend sometimes, and I don't know how I got so lucky. He tries to be as understanding as possible, and I try to do the same. It can be hard for both of us.

My family has never been "close" but my family still expects me to show up for family dinners and stuff (we live less than a half hour away from each other). My dad was emotionally abusive my whole childhood to both my end my brother. It's getting better now that we're both adults, but that's never excusable. So, my mom knows a lot more about my mental health issues than my dad, because he is not accepting of it. Even though he was once depressed and took meds for it. So did my mom. My dad's dad was an emotionally and physically abusive, bipolar alcoholic. His adopted brother was sent away because he tried to stab my dad. But MI isn't real. If you can't see it, it doesn't exist. My brother is in jail because he has self-medicated his BP1 since he was 14 (he will be 20 two weeks from tomorrow, while in jail), and had 2 psychotic episodes last year, which resulted in him going to jail 3 times and 2 different psych wards. But it still isn't real. He's just a shitty person, obviously.

I can't imagine going through life thinking like that. On one hand, you don't give a shit about anyone but yourself so other stuff doesn't worry/bother you, but you're also just a shitty, selfish person. A really big part of my struggle with all my issues is caring about others more than myself, which I'm sure you get.

Having your symptoms/feelings invalidated by someone else is the most disheartening thing in the world. The most effective things for me have been going on these Reddit subs, and sharing with others, and seeing you're not alone. NAMI also has support groups. I went to one once, but I was "elevated" so it's almost like it didn't happen.

Focus on your health. That is one thing you can do for yourself that no one else can. Exercise, eat well, take your meds and supplements (I take Lamictal 200mg, Wellbutrin 300mg, Vistaril 25 mg 3x/day, as well as a B-Complex, D, and Biotin). Do research. Try to educate people in your life that are willing to learn. Just keep going.

I'm reading this book right now. I think someone linked to it on Reddit (I'd give credit if I could remember), and it's really touching. The parts about his son hit home so hard, and remind me of my brother. I highly recommend it. I don't know if it would help, but maybe if your boyfriends read a book like this (from a perspective of zero knowledge of MI, and having a loved one ripped away from you because of it), it could shed some light. Good luck :)

u/JonMcClane · 1 pointr/JusticePorn

For a good read on the stigma against mental health, please read Crazy by Pete Earley.

u/ImRightImRight · 1 pointr/todayilearned

Sounds terrifying, but think of it this way:

They claimed they had psychological symptoms indicative of schizophrenia or bipolar. Why shouldn't they be treated for this?

If they'd really had the hallucinations (and weren't on street drugs) then the hallucinations would be coming back soon enough if they didn't accept treatment.

This study was part of the wave of the antipsychiatry movement that exposed problems with mental hospitals, but a disastrous backlash: deinstitutionalization, which led shittons of people to end up worse off: in prison, on the street, or addicted.

The book Crazy by Pete Earley is a fascinating look at the experiences of a journalist whose bipolar son broke into a neighbors' house and caused a mess. Earley embarks on an investigation, meeting those who have perspective on how we got where we are and those trying to help the mentally ill.

This is a hugely important issue for our nation, for EVERYONE, that does not get the attention it deserves. We need stronger commitment laws (we should be able to medically test whether a person is experiencing psychosis) and more funding for psychiatry care!!

u/lindygrey · 1 pointr/Denver

Have you read the book Crazy?

u/chekawa · -1 pointsr/IAmA

http://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Fathers-Through-Americas-Madness/dp/0425213897

Mind-boggling, what I learned in this book re how inhumane the system is for the mentally ill (not to mention wasteful for the taxpayer). Also interesting - Mark Vonnegut's latest book on the same topic.