I have been following the stories written by Diana Hefley in November, “What Jail Can’t Cure,” her excellent coverage concerning the mentally ill.
After Ronald Reagan closed many state hospitals, all the problems began, letting mentally ill people to fend for themselves, put out on the streets even though they were distressed and many unable to cope with daily life. They were put on drugs then let loose on the streets all over the United States. The hospitals were closed without any thought or regard for where these people were supposed to go.
That is what is wrong today; there is no place for them to go. I know all about this scene since I went through Hell trying to help my husband. My husband had a brain injury a month after we moved to Washington. He fell in our garage and hit his head hard. He was rushed to Skagit Valley Hospital, which sent him by helicopter to Harborview in Seattle. He was there for 60 days in intensive care. When he came home, he was never the same; he had anger issues, confusion and delusions. He went from doctor to doctor, tests and more tests all with similar results. He was put on medications that at time intensified the anger in his confused mind. Drugs were changed. On some he was like a zombie, not knowing who he was or who I was either.
After falling in our bath tub, I could not lift him out and had to call 911. They took him to a hospital and gave him drugs to calm him down.
In the meantime I went to an elder attorney to have everything legally done, so I could help him and become his guardian. He was in and out of hospitals, and the police were called numerous times, I was at my wits’ end.
He was sent to a senior behavior facility in Sedro-Woolley 15 times. He was put into assisted living three times, and I was asked to take him home because he was to disruptive to other patients. He kicked nurses and called them names. He became more and more violent and different drugs were tried. We finally were able to get him into Western State Hospital. I was his legal guardian by then and he was declared legally blind and mentally incapable, unable to care for himself. This all took place between 2004 and 2007.
I was very happy to finally have a place where he was cared for. Our family took turns to see him twice a week from Camano Island to Lakewood. He continued to go downhill and I was pleased with the care that Western State gave him. He died in July 2007 after so much struggle and confusion and pain. It was a nightmare for me, a living Hell. This could not have been possible without him being put into a place where he got the care he needed.
Why can there not be a permanent hospital for the mentally ill. If the young man in Diana Hefley’s reporting, Keaton Farris, would have had some place to go, maybe he could have been saved. So many mentally ill patients are walking the streets, homeless. Western State is fighting with the government for more funds because the government keeps cutting funds for them. Western has a waiting list to get in.
There is a great shortage of mental health doctors and nurses, and it is worse than it was in 2007 for me. I admire Diana Hefley and her excellent coverage of this terrible problem of treatment for the mentally ill.
I sincerely hope something can be done in the future with Western State Hospital.
Sherry Bonnett lives on Camano Island.
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