Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This was heartbreaking--the story of Linda Bishop, a woman with severe mental health issues, who was released from institutionalized care, found her way to an abandoned NH farmhouse, and died of starvation a few months later.
She'd been combative, and refused her medications. Even though she was homeless, as an adult (51), she wouldn't allow staff to notify an estranged sister of her release (she'd abandoned a child in the early throes of her mental illness).
The film was very well done, with actress Lori Singer reading Bishop's entries--some lucid, some not) in a couple of notebooks she left in the farm house.
I just pre-ordered the DVD on Amazon. My husband was watching something else, and expressed interest when I told him about it.
Location: Lakewood NJ/Murrells Inlet SC/ N. Naples FL/Swainton NJ
4,031 posts, read 6,550,081 times
Reputation: 3536
Yes! It was long and sad but well worth watching.
I have a spouse with mental issues. She exhibits many of the symptoms and issues as Linda Bishop. I have often thought that if I were to leave/divorce her she would end up like Linda.
I personally went through the same problems and "catch-22's" with the mental health system as Linda's sister did.
It was difficult to watch, but very well made, and with sensitivity. With help right across the road, she was a prisoner in her own mind--of her mental illness.
I thought that the film made an interesting point. We used to warehouse the mentally ill in institutions. With the advent of more patient rights, there are so many more mentally ill homeless people on the streets. Some are dangerous, as in pushing people onto the tracks on the subway, while most are not. It's a major societal dilemma, the balance between patient's rights to making decisions on their own healthcare and their privacy vs receiving adequate care and medication to prevent what happened to Linda Bishop. This film relates very well to the other recent PBS American Experience documentary about the laws on eugenics and forced sterilization. Linda Bishop would have probably been forced to have her tubes tied had she been ill like this in the 1960s or earlier.
Location: Lakewood NJ/Murrells Inlet SC/ N. Naples FL/Swainton NJ
4,031 posts, read 6,550,081 times
Reputation: 3536
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlygal
The system isn't failing. It's struggling to find a good, balanced solution that works for a large group of people with different mental issues.
Having negotiated the mental health system in NJ with my spouse's issues, it failed her like it did the women in the film. My wife is stable due to my care and support but far from cured.
Perhaps there is no "cure". However for a short time she was taking three medications that seemed to alleviate all her symptoms. However she decided to stop taking them and there was nothing I could do about it.
Having negotiated the mental health system in NJ with my spouse's issues, it failed her like it did the women in the film. My wife is stable due to my care and support but far from cured.
Perhaps there is no "cure". However for a short time she was taking three medications that seemed to alleviate all her symptoms. However she decided to stop taking them and there was nothing I could do about it.
And this is the crux of the issue.
Linda Bishop only found herself in a state hospital after being sent there, instead of jail, for misdemeanors. She refused medication and post-release follow-up and care--and would not allow medical staff to notify family members. She was not seen as a danger to herself or others, so she was released.
Adults can refuse treatment, and this woman was non-compliant. Once she got into that house and after a self-imposed isolation, she didn't know what to do.
Treating mental illness is challenging enough. What are the options when an adult doesn't even accept a diagnosis?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
