In the wake of recent mass shootings and the release of individuals with serious mental disorders into the public, the question is, should they be placed in secure mental health facilities? Or should they stay on the streets, where they are a danger to themselves and others?
00:00:00.000Recently, we had a man go out on a rampage with a hammer in Calgary, and he caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the Calgary Peace Bridge.
00:00:07.200Then last week, another guy broke into Calgary City Hall and did extensive damage to the building as he lit fires.
00:00:13.280He couldn't be immediately restrained because he was carrying a large knife, and he got injured when police arrested him.
00:00:20.020And the City Hall is still closed now due to the water and fire damage.
00:00:23.400In Montreal, last Tuesday and Wednesday, even worse, three people were shot and killed in what appeared to be random killings.
00:00:28.720A suspect was located on Thursday, yesterday, in a motel, and he was shot and killed by police as they tried to apprehend him.
00:00:34.920Now, the common denominator in all three of these incidents is that all three of the perpetrators were known by authorities to have serious mental disorders, but they'd been released into the public anyway.
00:00:44.460With the tragic incident in Montreal, the killer had been released from a mental institution last March, despite the psychiatrist at the hearing saying he presented a significant risk to public safety due to his mental state.
00:01:06.300And that movement came to a head at the end of the 20th century.
00:01:09.460The rationale was it was inhumane to keep people incarcerated for mental health disorders, and that with proper community supports and medication, they can be safely and productively living freely within the public.
00:01:19.300And in most cases, actually, this is true.
00:01:23.440And the price of failed community integration can be pretty high, as we've seen.
00:01:27.460The push to keep people out of long-term mental health facilities is understandable.
00:01:30.780Nobody likes to think of incarcerating somebody for a disease which is no fault of their own.
00:01:35.000Just because a person can't be faulted for their mental illness, no, doesn't mean they don't present a hazard sometimes to themselves or the others around them if they are under control.
00:01:43.400I mean, mental institutions used to be horrible places where patients were warehoused under terrible conditions.
00:01:48.400They were often abused, and they were subject to experiments, even.
00:01:51.360In the 20th century, that did change, though.
00:01:53.260And in the developed world, institutions were reformed to become more treatment-oriented and with efforts to improve the standard of living for patients.
00:02:00.900When the deinstitutionalization movement took hold, though, and I blame kind of the one flew over the cuckoo's nest.
00:02:06.740It really started in the 70s and so on, people having this thought of how terrible it is to be in a mental institution.
00:02:11.420The goal of reformation of the institutions, though, changed.
00:02:17.280And that movement was successful in that the populations of institutions have dropped, and many have even closed.
00:02:22.660In the long term, though, it's becoming evident that the movement's been a failure.
00:02:25.640Many people found themselves on the streets that really don't belong there.
00:02:28.980We have a terrible homelessness and opioid addiction epidemic, and it's killing thousands right now.
00:02:33.760The solution to that crisis is going to be complicated and multifaceted.
00:02:37.300One important facet of that puzzle, though, is the number of homeless and addicted people with serious mental health disorders that never should have been on the street in the first place.
00:02:45.300In a proper institution, medication can be supervised and regulated for patients.
00:02:49.580In a street setting, many people with serious mental disorders are self-medicating with products they get from predatory street dealers.
00:02:55.140And this compounds the person's problems as they now have an untreated mental illness and an addiction to feed.
00:02:59.720Let's quit pretending the homeless person shambling around, pushing a shopping cart while talking to themselves, just needs a new apartment or a job.
00:03:06.580We won't hesitate to put a person who's physically injured in the hospital.
00:03:09.780We've got to stop being so squeamish about putting people with mental health disorders into proper care facilities as well.
00:03:15.220And yes, the difference is the person with a mental illness might lose personal choice, and I'm talking about secured facilities, but we don't have to like the necessity to accept it.
00:03:24.920It's a popular concept these days when it comes to addictions.
00:03:26.920Well, that term should be applied to people with mental health disorders as well, and the means of mitigation will be institutionalization for a lot of them.
00:03:34.220Existing mental health facilities are already overwhelmed.
00:03:37.160Conventional hospitals have mental health wings, but they're full, and they don't provide good or comfortable long-term care.
00:03:42.520They're meant to be transitional, and patients are often discharged, not because they're healthy again, but because the space and resources are needed.
00:03:49.320Many people with mental health challenges have been housed in senior citizen care facilities as well,
00:03:53.260because the units housing residents with dementia are secured, and there's nowhere else to put people.
00:03:57.800This is unfair to the seniors, the staff, and of course the people with the mental health illnesses.
00:04:01.800And finally, many of those with serious mental health issues end up in our prison system.
00:04:05.880They're often abused there, and they don't get the treatment they need.
00:04:08.840Let's accept that a number of people with mental illnesses just can't be treated, at least not at this time,
00:04:13.260and must be secured within an institution indefinitely.
00:04:16.660The facility doesn't need to be a place of punishment or harsh living.
00:04:19.940Facilities should be well-funded and comfortable as possible while allowing visits with loved ones,
00:04:23.680and as much supervised public interaction as safely possible.
00:04:27.220I'm sure many families who have lost members to the streets because of mental illness challenges
00:04:30.620would have preferred it if the family member had been secured in a facility rather than exposed to the elements and lost on the streets.
00:04:37.200If patients truly can be stabilized and eased into society, that's the best outcome.
00:04:40.700It has to be accepted, though, that many can't or won't stick to their medication or they're untreatable,
00:04:45.320and they're going to have to remain insecure.