DJ Jaffe is executive director of the think tank, Mental Illness Policy Org, and author of the book, “Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill.” On this episode of Federalist Radio, Jaffe shares stories of how the government and our mental health system have shunned 10 million adults who are considered seriously mentally ill.
“They’ll call me up about somebody who is deteriorating. They’re walking on eggshells. The family is falling apart. And they’re powerless to do anything,” Jaffe said. “They’re fearing for their own safety and all I can do is become one more person in a long chain of people who refer them somewhere else.”
The community-based service system our government has turned to largely refuses to treat the most seriously mentally ill.
“If you need sexual identity counseling, if you lost a job, if you’re kid is not getting good grades…services are readily available to you,” he said. “If you’re homeless, schizophrenic and eating out of a dumpster, nothing is available to you.”
Listen here:
