addressing the system of mental un-health
In one of my previous jobs, I had frequented psychiatric wards, high-level group homes, and institutional settings that housed the people on the fringes of our society. Many of these souls had lost their voice to a system that saw them as nothing but numbers and diagnoses in a system largely devoid of grace. The patient’s “pathology” preceded their humanity, which somehow justified their prolonged imprisonment in these places of limbo. In 2012, California issued a moratorium on all non-forensic developmental centers. What that means is that people with developmental disabilities that did not commit a crime would be released … More
