Jail, Justice, Jobs
Photography by Denis Oliveira
For those who can’t fathom how our nation operates like a third-world country when it comes to mental healthcare, three books help stitch the story together. Spoiler alert - it’s an ugly by necessary read.
The stories tackle three key issues: 1) how jails became the de facto hospitals for the mentally ill; 2) how mental illness became criminalized and; 3) Why the mentally ill have such a hard time finding a job that matches their skills.
These three books answer those questions.
Pete Earley’s Crazy, A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness. Earley, a New York Times bestselling author, takes a deep dive into how jails became the de facto hospitals for individuals with mental illness. How mental illness became criminalized. His muckraking oeuvre years ahead of today’s conversation. His investigation spurred on by his son’s run in with the law after experiencing a psychotic break.
Ron Powers’s No One Cares About Crazy People, the chaos and heartbreak of mental health in America, a Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author, takes you through the history of how the U.S. got itself into the abysmal state of mental healthcare. He explores how this calamity used the building blocks of ignorance, stigma and a disastrous revamp of the mental healthcare system to get us here. He details how our nation became an incompetent mental healthcare provider by enacting laws – initially with good intentions– to only hamper individuals in desperate need of help to stabilize and re-enter society. The book inspired after both of his sons developing schizophrenia.
Marjorie L. Baldwin’s Beyond Schizophrenia, living and working with a serious mental illness. Dr. Baldwin is a professor of economics at W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Baldwin, an internationally recognized researcher whose studies on workforce discrimination toward the disabled and individuals with severe mental illness, nail the problem. Her work evolved after her son developed schizophrenia. She discusses the dehumanizing factor. How society views those with severe mental illness (SMI) as unemployable or capable of only menial labor. Yet with the right tools and environment those with SMI can succeed. Many a great/creative mind - John Nash ( Nobel Prize mathematician), Peter Green ( Fleetwood Mac guitar genius), Jack Kerouac, (author and Beat movement founder ) Vincent Van Gogh (painter) were afflicted with schizophrenia. Many more make the cut. Most do so in silence.
Decriminalizing these diseases, removing stigma and providing SMI individuals with treatment lead toward stabilization. By doing so, positive outcomes can become reality. All people want to feel productive. All people want to have purpose. All people want to be accepted. Individuals with severe mental illness also want a chance at life.
Change Can Happen
To date mental illness has languished on the government’s back-burner. But after decades a crack may be forming.
As our nation battles this lengthy COVID war, mental health has become a secondary impact of the pandemic. Conversations about mental illness flood the news, social media, zoom chats and the like.
People have become more open about their mental health. On social, discussions about depression, anxiety, even bipolar disorder, hold less shame. An awakening to lack of services, hospital beds and healthcare professionals has forced the topic to the forefront. Teladoc has burst onto the scene. This virus for all its horror has opened the door to another horror that has been with us for decades - the state of mental health.
We have a real shot at ending stigma, and stripping away ignorance, until one day talking about mental health will be no different than talking about cancer or diabetes. We have a real chance to be better mental health educators, and debunk urban legends. We have a real chance to carve a new path forward and turn the tide on the way mental illness is perceived. Everyone deserves a chance to be a contributing member of society. Discrimination benefits no one.
