First published 2016
Linda Thompson tackles the crisis of chronic mental illness in America. She focuses on the hundreds of thousands of severely impaired individuals who cycle between homelessness and incarceration. Thompson argues that outpatient treatment fails this population entirely. She makes the case for returning to asylum-based care, where patients received structured environments and met their basic needs safely. The author examines how current neglect leads to violence and worsening symptoms for vulnerable people. She addresses the economic realities of rebuilding institutional care. Thompson contends that proper facilities would reduce hidden costs now absorbed by prisons and emergency services. She writes primarily for psychiatrists, mental health workers, public health officials, and law enforcement. The book presents asylum care as both more humane and more practical than the current system of abandonment.
Genres: mental-health, social-issues, non-fiction, psychiatry, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: advocacy, social-commentary
56 pages · Paperback · CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Content warnings: mental-illness