The Insanity Offense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens

"Vital for all working in the mental health field . . . . Fascinating reading for anyone." —Choice

E. Fuller Torrey, the author of the definitive guides to schizophrenia and manic depression, chronicles a disastrous swing in the balance of civil rights that has resulted in numerous violent episodes and left a vulnerable population of mentally ill people homeless and victimized. Interweaving in-depth accounts of landmark cases in California, Wisconsin, and North Carolina with a history of legislation and changes in the mental health care system, Torrey gives shape to the magnitude of our failure and outlines what needs to be done to reverse this ongoing—and accelerating—disaster. A new epilogue on the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona, brings this tragic story up to date.
1100290810
The Insanity Offense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens

"Vital for all working in the mental health field . . . . Fascinating reading for anyone." —Choice

E. Fuller Torrey, the author of the definitive guides to schizophrenia and manic depression, chronicles a disastrous swing in the balance of civil rights that has resulted in numerous violent episodes and left a vulnerable population of mentally ill people homeless and victimized. Interweaving in-depth accounts of landmark cases in California, Wisconsin, and North Carolina with a history of legislation and changes in the mental health care system, Torrey gives shape to the magnitude of our failure and outlines what needs to be done to reverse this ongoing—and accelerating—disaster. A new epilogue on the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona, brings this tragic story up to date.
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The Insanity Offense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens

The Insanity Offense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens

by E. Fuller Torrey
The Insanity Offense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens

The Insanity Offense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens

by E. Fuller Torrey

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Overview

"Vital for all working in the mental health field . . . . Fascinating reading for anyone." —Choice

E. Fuller Torrey, the author of the definitive guides to schizophrenia and manic depression, chronicles a disastrous swing in the balance of civil rights that has resulted in numerous violent episodes and left a vulnerable population of mentally ill people homeless and victimized. Interweaving in-depth accounts of landmark cases in California, Wisconsin, and North Carolina with a history of legislation and changes in the mental health care system, Torrey gives shape to the magnitude of our failure and outlines what needs to be done to reverse this ongoing—and accelerating—disaster. A new epilogue on the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona, brings this tragic story up to date.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780393068887
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 06/17/2008
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 304
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

E. Fuller Torrey is a research psychiatrist specializing in schizophrenia and manic-depressive illness. He is the founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center and the executive director for laboratory research at the Stanley Medical Research Institute. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland.

Table of Contents


Preface     xi
Acknowledgments     xv
Introduction: The Origins of a Disaster     1
Death by the Roadside     9
Thirteen Murders to Prevent an Earthquake     24
"The Odds Are Still in Society's Favor"     41
The Killing of Three Devils     69
The Sad Legacy of Ms. Lessard     82
God Does Not Take Medication     111
The Consequences of Unconstrained Civil Liberties: Homeless, Incarcerated, and Victimized     123
The Consequences of Unconstrained Civil Liberties: Violent and Homicidal     140
An Imperative for Change     161
Fixing the System     177
Coda: Death by the Roadside     197
U.S. Studies of the Prevalence of Serious Violence by Psychiatric Patients Living in the Community     209
Studies from Other Countries of Homicides Committed by Individuals with Psychotic Disorders     213
Notes     219
Index     251
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