Came off the gold standard in the early 70’s and look who’s running the asylum

I wonder what life was like in the 8 year trough

Not sure what to make of it, but in the mid 70s it seems the sum of both was just half the number before and after (~300 vs. ~600)

Yes. But. The chart doesn’t really capture the complexity of the overall problem - there's a lot of mental illness that's not hospitalized. In reality, many (or most) of us will experience cognitive decline if we are fortunate enough to live long lives. Toward the end, serious mental decline - of...

I recall in the early 70s, the rise of psycho-active drugs like thorazine, enabled the hospitals to empty out the mentally ill. It was the beginning of widespread homelessness and crime as these folks weren’t really healthy. Sad. The thorazine took the edge off the more violent patients.

We tend to only see the effect/symptom and never the cause which led to that. Same thing with a lot of problems resulting from poverty.

Aren't prisons more humane than mental hospitals ?