The barriers to treatment of someone with a severe mental illness are high and need to be eliminated.  Countless family members and other loved ones are instrumental to breaking down these barriers and helping to get someone the care they need.  The road is not an easy one.  A person with a mental illness often times does not realize they are sick and need treatment.  That is an unfortunate part of the disease.

The history of mental illness in America is not a proud chapter.  Its now time to turn the page on the failed policies of the past and look for new and innovative ways to get people with severe mental illnesses they help they need and deserve. 

Laws and other policies often don’t help and will frustrate family members trying to get someone the treatment they need.  Legal road blocks exist in many states.  Misguided lawyers, too often misusing taxpayers' money, do all they can to block people who are too sick to know they are sick from getting treatment.  Many states don’t allow treatment for the people with the most severe mental illnesses until it is too late.  Then, tragedy or violence places them in the revolving door of the correctional system at great taxpayer expense and little or no medical recovery. 

Instead of learning from the mistake of a failed history of hospital closures, the nation has no systematic plan to provide people with the care they need, in an appropriate setting. 

The good news is that with help from people like you, these policies can change.