| Through thousands of anecdotal cases documented | | | | summarizes in his book involves an intelligent young |
| for forty years and also tracing the legal history of | | | | man who at the age of sixteen was diagnosed with |
| mental illness from the late 1940s, Dr. Torrey, an | | | | schizophrenia and considered dangerous. He was |
| eminent psychiatrist, effectively makes the | | | | in-and-out of hospitals, threatened on several |
| connecting link between a percent of people afflicted | | | | occasions to kill his mother, his sister and her child. His |
| with mental illness who are at risk of violent behavior. | | | | behavior became increasingly erratic as he got older. |
| Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression | | | | For over ten years his mother and sister tried in vain |
| are Dr. Torrey's targeted mental health areas. A | | | | to get help. Finally, in desperation and out of love in |
| portion of this population does not acknowledge their | | | | not wanting to see him suffer the rest of his life |
| illness, do not take their medication and frequently | | | | they killed him. Dr. Torrey agreed to testify pro bono |
| abuse alcohol and drugs. It is this segment of | | | | for the defense at the trial but the lawyer declined. |
| mentally ill persons who most often display, or are at | | | | Sadly, Dr. Torrey states that several times each year |
| risk of, dangerous and violent behavior. It is also this | | | | someone in the United States makes the same |
| segment of mentally ill persons who, unfortunately, | | | | decision. "Faced with what appears to be inevitable, |
| stigmatize the majority of mentally ill individuals who | | | | the unthinkable becomes thinkable." |
| "make good neighbors." | | | | Another documented case related by Dr. Torrey is a |
| "One of the great social disasters of recent American | | | | 2004 case involving a bipolar disordered young man |
| history" is the aptly coined phrase Dr. Torrey uses to | | | | who was not taking his medication, strangled his |
| describe the consequences of laws and policies that | | | | mother and stabbed to death his sister and her |
| have led to increasing homelessness, incarceration, | | | | young son. His father, a lawyer, stated, "If I had had |
| violence and homicides involving mentally ill. Most | | | | any clue this would happen, I would have gone over |
| importantly, the legislatively passed laws and policies | | | | there, killed my son, and turned myself in..." |
| have caused much anguish and pain for the multitude | | | | Dr. Torrey's belief is that the system that treats |
| of families with extremely mentally ill loved ones. | | | | mentally ill persons is sadly deficit. He makes the |
| During the past fifty years hundreds of thousands of | | | | strong case that it is imperative the mental health |
| people have been released from the public mental | | | | policies be reformed and that policies mandate the |
| hospitals as a result of civil rights involuntary | | | | extremely mentally ill persons who could be or are |
| commitment law suits and civil rights lawsuits that | | | | dangerous receive the treatment they clearly need. |
| said a person with a mental illness has a right to | | | | The final chapter of his book is devoted to the steps |
| refuse to take medications, even though the | | | | that should be taken to successfully fix the present |
| medications are effective in treating the person. The | | | | disastrously ineffective system. |
| results led to deinstitutionalization which subsequently | | | | This book is a must-read for anyone with a loved |
| led to documented homelessness, violence, | | | | one suffering from mental illness and for all other |
| incarceration and tragedy for a segment of the | | | | individuals concerned with mental illness and the |
| mentally ill population. | | | | subset of people with potential for violence. |
| One of the documented cases Dr. Torrey | | | | |