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Ultimately it is not in the best interest of taxpayers or persons receiving treatment to keep people with mental illnesses in exile. Community reintegration helps people progress, maintain the changes they make, and build healthier lives. Institutions are often dehumanizing to those who live there and present formidable barriers to progress.

posted 4 years, 11 months ago
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I meant to say of the strong against the weak.

posted 4 years, 11 months ago
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I am a mental health professional familiar with these discussions. They often remain at a rather shallow level. What get missed is the public's interest in effective treatment. Effective treatment is the best protection for public safety. It is expensive to keep potentially dangerous people in high security settings. State law mandates, for the sake of civil liberties, that these individuals be evaluated periodically for their dangerousness. Without this we are subject to use of the mental health system in service of totalitarianism, and as a weapon of the weak against the strong.

posted 4 years, 11 months ago
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