quote:

In the months that followed, I would ask and ask and ask myself what had led Tom to decide to die—what blend of fear and bravery, clarity and confusion, mood and circumstance. I would conclude, for a while, that it was the fragile space between psychosis and sanity that was Tom’s undoing—that zone in which he could see all that his life was missing but was still unable to fix it. Soon, however, that explanation seemed incomplete, as did every other one I tried to come up with. Eventually I would say to myself, Schizophrenia did this. There’s no way to parse it further.

https://www.newyorker.com/cult...r-toms-schizophrenia

Wow.

How heartbreaking.

This:

quote:

public programs to enable him, and others with schizophrenia, to participate in society rather than be pushed to its fringes.

is so, so painfully lacking in our society.

Are there any countries that do a good job with the truly mentally ill? Japan certainly doesn’t.

I’m not sure there is much anyone can do.

Steve, I don’t think that’s true. I think that as a society, true acceptance and compassion would go a long way, but we don’t have either of those.

The comment about Tom not taking his meds seems to me to be tightly enmeshed with the lack of acceptance.

And there is the issue touched on briefly in the article, there are not enough beds in the right kinds of hospitals. Yes, there are those who seem to prefer to be on the streets, but in general we as a society don’t do a good job of taking care of our mentally ill citizens.

Other than long term care in a mental health facility--i.e. commitment--there isn't much that can be done to help schizophrenics. Their delusions make them believe they don't need medication, and when they aren't medicated they are a danger to themselves and others. Outside of a mental hospital, you can't force them to take their prescriptions. And I don't blame them for not wanting to--these drugs make you feel pretty horrible. My youngest brother was schizophrenic. Even on his meds, it was clear to me that the psychosis was active--it was just more muted. And when he was released from the hospital because he was better, it was only a matter of time before he was refusing to take his meds and was back in full blown psychosis. Public acceptance of mental illness was the least of our concerns, and it wouldn't have made a lick of difference for him.