[Magdalen] Washington Post article on involuntary hospitalization of the mentally ill

[Ann Markle]

I read this series, too -- and loved it.  I hate that the New Yorker has
such fine, deep writing on a regular basis, and comes out once a week (or
two, on occasion).  Once a month would be plenty for so much fine writing.
I find myself reading lots of articles about things I'm not even interested
in (or didn't think I was), because the writing is so fine.  I have a big
stack from the last year that I haven't had time to read yet.  Does anyone
have any ideas for getting through them more quickly?

As far as the article goes, I certainly didn't understand that there was
any emphasis on "rounding these people up," but rather the difficult
decisions that are made regarding standards of self-care.  But even as I
write this, I can see Jay's point.  Someone like this woman, who is
articulate and at least minimally compliant with treatment, is easier to
monitor than those who "go off," don't take their meds, don't keep their
appointments, and just get crazier and crazier, dangerouser and dangerouser.

Ann

The Rev. Ann Markle
Buffalo, NY
ann.markle at aya.yale.edu
blog:  www.onewildandpreciouslife.typepad.com

On Tue, Feb 3, 2015 at 3:10 PM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:

> In 1981 the New Yorker ran a four-part article: Is there no place on
> earth for me? Later published as a book. Won the Pulitzer Prize.
>
> Those articles changed me in profound ways. One of the things
> that stuck with me: the protagonist telling a psychiatrist in an ER
> that she'd had lunch with Clark Gable earlier in the day. The psychiatrist
> thought she was talking about one of her friends and pronounced her
> fit to leave.
>
> That and the fact that her parents continued to cash her SSI Disability
> checks while she lived on the streets.
>