Reagan in the 80s:

[MaryL]

Regan and PATCO. I digress. Regan and the MHSA, he practically caused this homeless crisis. Closing down mental health treatment centers. Opening up asylums...Regan practically opened up pandora's box. Not being political, being factual.

 

[Moonglow]

MaryL in between posts...

Actually what I have heard is the nut houses were being closed in the mid 1970's to the Reagan era.

 

[Polishprince]

I think you are wrong. The number of mental hospitals in America and the number of patients they took care of started plummeting long before Reagan took office in the 1980s. Actually, the number peaked in the 1950's, the invention of medicines like Thorazine made the usage of straight jackets and rubber rooms a lot less necessary as you could just give most nuts medicine and send them home and they'd be mellow.

 

[fncceo]

he practically caused this homeless crisis.

I'm putting this one on Jack Nicholson.

The movie version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" convinced many Americans that involuntary committal and mental health facilities were worse than Nazi death camps.

Public outrage, however much dramatized, caused us to shut them down.

Homelessness was an unintended consequence that we just can't admit to.

 

[Moonglow]

I'm putting this one on Jack Nicholson.

The movie version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" convinced many Americans that involuntary committal and mental health facilities were worse than Nazi death camps.

Public outrage, however much dramatized, caused us to shut them down.

Homelessness was an unintended consequence that we just can't admit to.

And the leprosy islands are off-limits now.

 

[YoursTruly]

Regan and PATCO. I digress. Regan and the MHSA, he practically caused this homeless crisis. Closing down mental health treatment centers. Opening up asylums...Regan practically opened up pandora's box. Not being political, being factual.

Anyone on Xanax or Prozac needs to be put in an asylum.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

Reagan signed the bill created by a Dimocrat majority in both chambers that led to cutting the funds, but the myth will continue that it was Reagan alone that closed the institutions.

Nice try though.

 

[fncceo]

And the leprosy islands are off-limits now.

They have been since medical science discovered just how manageable and non contagious that leprosy really is. The vast majority of humans are immune to leprosy.

Substance addiction is considerably less manageable in an outpatient environment.

And the overwhelming majority of homeless today are unable to care for themselves due to mental problems brought on by substance abuse.

Giving them a script for methadone and valium and letting them hit the streets doesn't seem to be working.

 

[Moonglow]

They have been since medical science discovered just how manageable and non contagious that leprosy really is. The vast majority of humans are immune to leprosy.

Substance addiction is considerably less manageable in an outpatient environment.

And the overwhelming majority of homeless today are unable to care for themselves due to mental problems brought on by substance abuse.

Giving them a script for methadone and valium and letting them hit the streets doesn't seem to be working.

I sure could use some...

 

[fncceo]

I sure could use some...

Leprosy?