Dear FRONTLINE,

Your show explained a complex problem in a way that was clear and respectful to the individuals.

I am a public defender. I spend many hours visiting with clients whose crime was caused by their mental illness. Individuals whose behavior is driven by their mental illness and who live in a society that increasingly demands conformity. I advocate for what my clients want which is usually to be out of jail. Unfortunately, there is usually no where for my clients to go other than the streets where many of the mentally ill are as likely to be victims as they are likely to be offenders.

With many states confronting budget problems, the limited mental health services are being cut. Your show brought this little known problem a public forum. Thank you.

Portland, OR

Dear FRONTLINE,

I want to applaud FRONTLINE for both of the very realistic documentaries you have produced portraying the mental health system in this country. As a social worker working in community mental health, unfortunately, these sad scenarios are all too familiar to me. I am also VERY impressed with the Bridgeview Manor program and hope that programs like it will continue to be developed in Ohio (I work in Akron, OH which is not far from Ashtabula) as well as in other areas in the country. Our mental health system needs to have a lot more levels of care/housing for persons who have mental illness. Not everyone fits into just an apartment, just a group home or a nursing home.

Kristi Armbruster, LISW
Akron, OH

FRONTLINE's editors respond:

Click here for more on Bridgeview Manor, including extra video and an interview with the program director.

Dear FRONTLINE,

It is abundantly clear from my perspective as an ER physician that our community-based mental health system is in shambles, and Frontline does a wonderful job covering its many failures and the almost impossible odds faced by many of the mentally ill.

While prison is obviously not the place for the mentally ill, at least they can receive services and cannot harm others. The most recent alternative has been to place the mentally ill in nursing homes where they terrorize the elderly and disabled, and have murdered several residents. While it may be politically incorrect to say so, the unmedicated mentally ill are a danger, and incarceration is preferable to the presently available alternatives.

There are other options -- mandatory commitment, a system focused more on long-term hospitalization. We had that system, and many people were uncomfortable with it, concerned that the mentally ill were isolated from society and deprived of their civil rights. Is society willing to return to a time when the mentally ill were institutionalized, often (but not always) against their will for much of their lives? Even the best community-based programs cannot handle the most severe and violent of the mentally ill.

Until we as a society can accept and accommodate the severely mentally ill in appropriate hospitals, prison is (sadly) safer for them and society than a nursing home or the street.

Jen Ling
slc, Utah

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you so much for helping our society to better understand severe mental illness and that we have a serious problem with how we treat people with these illnesses.

I have a 24 year old son suffering from the brain disease Paranoid Schizophrenia. He has been living with this illness for the past 6 years.

His mother and I have lived through this illness with him and have had to strongly advocate with Washington State mental health services and the courts to keep him from becoming very ill and causing harm to himself or others. Our son is currently doing well only because he is required by court ordered "least restrictive alternative" to take anti-psychotic medication.

Unfortunately we have a great deal of difficulty keeping our son on this court ordered "least restrictive alternative". The laws of Washington State and most other states protect the rights of a mentally ill person to refuse medication. It is madness that these laws do not consider the fact that it is common for a mentally ill person to not have any insight that they are seriously ill and must take medication. Therefore, when given the choice do not take medication, become seriously ill again and due to their illness, will likely end up committing serious crimes against society. People then wonder how this happens?

Please continue your work to expose this madness and how our society has chosen to not help mentally ill people. But then we end up sending them to prisons or allowing them to commit mass murders.

Please help our lawmakers to see that they must change the current mental health laws. They must give families and local mental health services organizations the ability to act sooner and make health decisions for mentally ill people that, due to their illness, cannot make health decisions for themselves.

Thank you for shining a bright light on this misunderstood issue.

Martin Hutchinson
The Dalles, Oregon

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for airing such an important topic in America. I am completing my graduate studies as a Professional Counselor and Marriage, Family, and Individual Therapist. I would like to see such program as Bridgeview implemented in the Atlanta area.

Again, thank you for such wonderful program.

Valissa Dixon
Lithia Springs, GA

Dear FRONTLINE,

I believe your Program would have been more useful if it had a solution at the end. The program they presented just promoted the feeling of hopelessness that is associated with mental illness. The solution is eliminating stigma by education/ early detection and treatment, and support from family and community. And then successful recovery is possible.

Liz Downey
Lake worth , FL

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for the wonderful show highlighting the tragically underdeveloped system of care for people with a serious mental illness. I am a little surprised the take home message was that community mental health has failed and that institutionalization seems like a reasonably good alternative to placing people with a serious mental illness in prison. We appear to have forgotten that by the time de-institutionalization began in 1955 numerous appalling incidents of ineffective care, abuse, neglect, and general squalor had been documented, leaving the public astonished at the cruelty of institutional care for people with a mental illness.

Deinstitutionalization occurred because we were warehousing people rather than treating them. As your show clearly demonstrates, history is now repeating itself in the prison system. Community mental health has appeared less than effective because it was never given the funding or resources needed to fulfill its mission of providing a humane alternative to institutionalization. Despite the constant drumbeat of negative press and being given less than a fair chance to succeed, community mental health has quietly and successfully served a large number of individuals with serious mental illnesses. Unfortunately, this number is still significantly less than the population of people who need help. Instead of denigrating community mental health, maybe we should give the system the resources necessary to succeed before declaring it a failure.

Christopher Larrison
Champaign, IL

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thanks for the superb presentation on the stupdity, tragedy and waste of the American mental health care non-system.

As an historian of social welfare, I would like to have seen you highlight the fact that Dorothea Dix, the great 19th century social reformer, devoted her life's work to the establishment of state mental hospitals and the release of the mentally ill from prisons to these establishments. So in the 21st century, by relegated the mentally ill to prisons America is merely recreating the inhumane horrors of two centuries earlier.

marion hunt
st. louis, mo.

Dear FRONTLINE,

As a nursing student who just completed his psychiatric clinical rotation, I was glad to see the attention Frontline has focused on the plight of the mentally ill in this coutry. "The Released" is a poingnant depiction of the tragic situations many of these people face. Typical of Frontline, the film is fascinating and revealing -- I've recommended that my school's psych instructor include it in her curriculum.

Thank you, and keep up the good work.

Co Spgs, CO

Dear FRONTLINE,

I am a former state and Federal inmate who was diagnosed for the first time with paranoid schizophrenia shortly after being arrested for threatening and harassing my family. I was hospitalized in a state forensic hospital because my behaviour in jail was so violent. There, I was forcibly medicated and restored to minimal legal competency. My legal journey took me back to jail and then on to Federal custody to resolve further charges of threatening and harassing my family. Seven and a half years after my arrest, I was released from Federal prison to a Federal halfway house. My term of Federal supervision lasted a further three years. During my incarceration, the quality of the psychiatric care that I received varied.

However, what I want to describe is the follow up that the Charlotte Federal courts provided. For the duration of my term of Federal supervision the Feds picked up the tab for my medication, a psychiatrist contracted by the US Probation Office, and a counselor. A condition of my supervision was that I continue to make appointments, take my meds, and generally follow the directions of my care team. I was arrested in 95, was released in 02 and finished supervision in 05. I have been healthy since 96 or so (you do not get over a serious psychotic break overnight, especially when you are recovering in a penal environment). I was on Prolixyn for 3 yrs and have been on Zyprexa since 98. Since my release from prison I have been gainfully employed the entire time, have been married and divorced (the American Experience!) and last year bought a house (the American Dream). Because the quality of the USPO contracted psychiatrist was so good, I continue to see him at my own expense while jumping through a myriad of hoops to afford my meds. I have had no lapses in well over a decade, essentially since I was first medicated. In the midst of an otherwise depressing trend, I just thought I would mention that there are those who make it. Even though I wanted to stay well, the odds of being able to get timely, affordable care on your own after being released from prison are not at all good. The key to my being able to obtain, afford and follow up with psychiatric care was the program that the local Federal District provided. Hope this is of interest to consumers, families and policy makers.

Charlotte, North Carolina

Dear FRONTLINE,

As a current case manager in an out patient mental health center, I work with a variety of wonderful individuals who also have severe mental illness. Especially due to the numbers of people in our country who experience mental health issues, I am thrilled that you have taken the time to put this topic into the forefront of conversation. However, I want to remind PBS and all its viewers that using language like "schizophrenic" is not only no longer acceptable but now atrocious. Using people first language (i.e. "person with Bipolar") is not about being politically correct but about speaking with dignity and respect for the people they are in addition to having a disability.

Kathryn Haskin
Lawrence, KS

Dear FRONTLINE,

"The Released" gave true insight to a growing epidemic that affects this country. It truly goes unnoticed when it does not personally "hit" home. Members of each community fail to acknowledge the issues that affect so many individuals who strive to sustain daily living; primarily due to a lack of knowledge.

Budget cuts have impacted the mentally ill as they are institutionalized rather than treated. The correctional system is not a functional system as it fails offenders by creating a sub-culture through its warehousing; therefore, how is it to serve as a form of rehabilitative treatment. The focus of our society is to punish rather than to treat. Countless dollars are wasted on institutionalizing rather than to utilize tax payers dollars to create working programs. If the prison systems were effective systems for the non-mentally ill population of offenders, then why is the recedivism rate so high? The system is not proactive; it is a reactive system that it chooses not to treat but rather to ignore real issues that were addressed through your publication.

Ashtabula, OHIO

Dear FRONTLINE,

In the news media, we hear a great deal about the mortage crisis faced by middle class people, and about the problems of banks, investment firms, and insurance companies. Seldom is there reporting on the housing crisis of low-income and indigent people, particularly the mentally ill. As was pointed out in the program, medical treatment without permanent housing makes no sense. There are some cases which are so difficult that even being able to cope with living in a group home would not be possible. There is still a need for long-term hospitalization in some cases. Problems with the quality of care in mental health, even when residential services are available, is something that the media rarely reports on. ...

I also agree with other viewers that PBS should cover other points of view in the mental health area. ...

Daniel Cohn
Valparaiso, IN

Dear FRONTLINE,

I cannot get last night's show out of my mind. It was a very timely broadcast as just yesterday our Illinois legislators voted to close the state-run facility where my sister is a resident. It is devastating news for my family. It coincides with the mentality that "The Released" referred to that the mentally disabled should be "free" and incorporated more into the community. My sister once lived in a private community group home. The were unable to handle some of my sister's challenges and moved her to the state facility which has been a godsend. There is a preconceived notion about "state institutions", and rightfully so, but they are not what they once were. I wish more of my tax dollars were spent on helping the mentally disabled achieve "freedom" as it needs to be defined for them.

Lisa Plichta
Chicago, IL

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you so much for your program dealing with the mentally ill in prison. As a worker in prison ministry for 15 years, I have long been aware that a large percentage of inmates are classified as mentally ill. However, this subject is one I have only learned about and discussed with the inmates themselves. Frontline, thank you for caring enough about these human beings to inform the public. I see a lot of things about prison on television, but never have I seen anything like The Released.

It was no surprise that 1/2 of the people in prison are classified as mentally ill, considering the lack of services provided and the lack of resources available upon release.

It is my purpose to work with people headed for prison, those in prison and those who have been released. This program inspires me to keep working to offer these human beings a chance to survive and thrive in our society and to become whole even while in prison.

Thank you again for your every effort in producing The Released.

Alice Batey
Baton Rouge, LA

Dear FRONTLINE,

"The Released" is a powerful reminder of a failed system that is in crisis with 350,000 people on parole/probation with mental illness without the community treatment programs that are needed to keep this population from going back to prison. As a family member with a loved one incarcerated with a psychiatric disability, I continue to be astounded by the lack of concern by the public and our public/elected officials to make the changes necessary to stop the recividism. In New York State the main prison population has gone down by 12% but at the same time the incarceration of the mentally ill has gone up 17%. Four thousand prisoners with mental illness are locked up in Rikers each day. Prison profits and prison jobs come first even though it is much less costly to treat people in the community. I felt saddened after I watched "The Release" to realize that we live in a society that chooses to support public policy that punishes people instead of treating them.

Leah Gitter
New York, New York