TimesArgus.com - We Are Vermont

Labeling people as "mentally ill" is marginalizing them. That's my first point.

Mental illness is a metaphor. If a person truely has brain dysfunction or disease, why not call it a neurological condition?

If mental illness is like any other disease such as Diabetes, then why aren't people with these conditions treated by neurologists instead of psychiatrists? There isn't one single biological marker for any mental illness. That's why.
Read Mad In America and learn.

As far as the over worked employees at Vermont State Hospital are concerned, there are now 260 employees and only 40 to 50 prisoners. I'll do the math. That's 5, FIVE, staff for every prisoner.

Yet, Vermont State Hospital is still not in compliance with the settlement agreement reached with the US Department of Justice, almost three years after the DOJ investigation was completed.

Don't blame law makers for the problems at Vermont State Hospital. Read the US Department of Justice Findings Letter, if you really want to know who is to blame for the mess at Vermont State Hospital.

If a patient/prisoner tries to file a complaint with Vermont Protection and Advocacy while a patient/prisoner at the hospital, they're told that all decisions about their treatment are "medical decisons" and Vermont Protection and Advocacy can't challenge medical decisions. The right to go outdoors, make a telephone call or use a computer are all medical decisions at the hospital. Even the right to have a visitor is a medical decision.

Lawyers and advocates don't return telephone calls until a patient/prisoner calls the court and asks for another attorney. Even then, some attorneys don't bother to speak with the people they are charged with advocating for. If the patient complains to Vermont Protection and Advocacy, the lawyer can always tell her supervisor to ignore the crazy person because who is going to believe a mental patient over an attorney with Vermont Protection and Advocacy?

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