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Basic InformationMore InformationLatest NewsAHA News: Could the Pandemic Help Boost Diversity in Clinical Trials?Americans Still Avoiding ERs in Pandemic, But Uptick Seen in Mental Health CrisesCDC Panel Says It Needs More Time to Study J&J Vaccine Clotting CasesAHA News: 5 Things to Know This Earth Day About How the Environment Affects Health4 in 10 Adults Over 50 Consult Online Reviews When Picking a DoctorCBD or THC? Cannabis Product Labels Often Mislead, Study FindsPandemic Has Put Many Clinical Trials on HoldDespite Pandemic's Toll, Many Older Adults Don't Have Living Wills'Heart-in-a-Box' Can Be Lifesaving, Matching Up Distant Donors With PatientsPublic Lost Trust in CDC During COVID Crisis: PollNearly 8 in 10 School, Child Care Staff Have Gotten at Least 1 Dose of COVID Vaccine: CDCWhy Are ER Wait Times Getting Longer for Kids in Mental Health Crisis?Buying Your Own Health Insurance Just Got Way Less ExpensiveStrain of COVID Care Has Many Health Professionals Looking for an ExitBlack Americans Often Face Discrimination in Health CareHow Willing Are Americans to Donate COVID Vaccines to Other Countries?Too Few Minorities in U.S. Health Care Workforce: ReportBlack Patients Often Treated at Hospitals With Poorer Safety Records: ReportDon't Delay Your Cancer Screenings, Surgeons' Group UrgesBiden Administration Working on 'Vaccine Passport' InitiativeStates Race to Vaccinate Their ResidentsFDA Clamping Down on Abuse of an OTCÂ DecongestantShortage of Primary Care Doctors Is Costing American LivesStudy Finds Growing Acceptance of COVID Vaccine by U.S. Health Care Workers'Avoidable Hospitalizations:' Another Way the Pandemic Is Tougher on MinoritiesOn-the-Road Help: 'Mobile Stroke Units' Are Saving People's LivesTalks With Doctors May Be Key to Vaccine Acceptance: StudyAs U.S. Vaccinations Rise, Are 'Vaccine Passports' for Americans Coming?Begin Routine Diabetes Screening at 35 for Overweight, Obese Americans: Task Force'Race Gap' in U.S. Heart Health Has Changed Little in 20 Years: ReportDriven by Anti-Vaxxers, Measles Outbreaks Cost Everyone MoneyScams Await Many Americans Desperate to Get COVID VaccineMore Americans Would Get Lung Cancer Screening Under New GuidelinesGlobal Warming Could Make Survival in Tropics Impossible: StudyCDC Issues New Guidelines for Vaccinated AmericansAHA News: How Science Evolved Its Views on Women's HealthHow Moving the Homeless to Hotels During the Pandemic Helps EveryoneFormaldehyde in Hair Straighteners Prompts FDA WarningPandemic Is Hitting Hospitals Hard, Including Their Bottom LineGot a Vaccine-Skeptical Relative? Here's How to Talk to Them1 in 3 Americans Delayed, Skipped Medical Care During PandemicHealth Care After COVID: A New Focus on Infectious DiseasesMost Americans Unhappy With U.S. Vaccine Rollout: PollBedside Manner Even More Important for Hospital Patients Admitted Via the ERToo Many U.S. Doctors Biased Against Patients With Disabilities: StudyWhy Do Black Children Get Fewer Scans When They're Seen in ERs?Compared to Other Countries, Americans Pay Much More for Prescription DrugsAnti-Vaxxers Mounting Internet Campaigns Against COVID-19 ShotsPandemic Has Greatly Slowed Pace of Cancer ResearchCrowdsourcing Raises Billions for Families Hit Hard by Medical Bills Questions and AnswersLinksBook Reviews |
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by Stephen B. Seager Westcom Press, 2000 Review by Aislinn Batstone on Dec 22nd 2001 As soon as I noted Dr. Stephen Seager's comment that mental illness
is in no way "psychological" I switched on my bias-meter,
alert for signs of psychiatric paternalism. There were instances
of bias, but on the whole the book was surprisingly even-handed.
Stephen Seager's Street Crazy is an informative, engaging,
and above all well-rounded introduction to the complex problem
of the homeless mentally ill in the United States.
Seager recounts his own experiences working as a hospital psychiatrist
in Los Angeles. Historical, political and medical information
and statistics are wound around anecdotes and a longer narrative
- Seager's search for the elusive John Doe. Doe is a schizophrenic
patient brought into the psychiatric emergency room by police,
having been found wandering down a freeway. He is kept on the
psychiatric ward just long enough to present himself lucidly at
a Mental Health Court hearing and be judged fit to take care of
himself:
' "Where does Mr. Doe live?" Perkins went on.
"He claims to live in an abandoned building on 39th
and Crenshaw. But
"
"Thank you, Dr. Seager," Perkins said curtly. "That's
all, your Honor."'
Through John Doe's story, Seager explores the tensions between
the medical and legal systems. This unwilling partnership aims
to guarantee the adequate treatment of people with mental illnesses,
while protecting their other rights. But these goals are in constant
conflict, as health and freedom so often are. Which should take
precedence? Seager tracks the historical basis of the current
precedence of legal rights, and suggests improvements in the way
the systems work together.
Street Crazy is non-technical and very easy to read. Seager's
historical, political, legal and medical interludes complement
the story, and the hard facts are as compelling as the plot line.
In style Street Crazy is a bit like an episode of ER,
but in content it's a whole lot more satisfying. This book will
answer most of your questions about the homeless mentally ill
in the US (one it doesn't answer is what money had to do
with deinstitutionalisation), and some you hadn't thought to ask.
Best of all, Seager explores more viewpoints than you would have
thought possible in such a moderately sized (197 pages) and accessible
book.
© 2001 Aislinn Batstone
Aislinn Batstone is
a Ph.D. candidate at Macquarie University, Sydney. Her research
interests include metaphysics, philosophy of logic, and the philosophy
of neurobiology and mental illness.
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