I appreciate Bob Keefer’s perspective (“Lessons From Bull Street,” Eugene Weekly June 22) countering a popular narrative that all mental hospitals mirror One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Yes, the horrors of some hospitals are irrefutable, but this article reflects firsthand a more compassionate, albeit complex, treatment of the severely mentally ill.
My children’s father was found dead at 47 by Pringle Creek in Salem last year, so badly decomposed it took weeks to identify him. At one point, he was an inpatient at the state hospital for schizophrenia, and had supportive post-treatment housing with court-mandated medication management. He was functional, employable and engaged with living.
Without this protocol, he became noncompliant and slipped deeper into psychosis, criminality and homelessness. We are told this is a loved one’s “choice,” even with diminished cognitive capacity — which I compare to allowing a 3-year-old to determine when they deem it safe to cross a busy highway.
My beautiful daughter, at 27, battles this same organic brain disease, and I fear a similar catastrophic fate without proper treatment. Keefer poignantly concludes in his article that perhaps medical neglect of the vulnerable mentally ill is the real abuse. If we see a diabetic slipping into an insulin crisis or a person having a heart attack or stroke, don’t we intervene with life-saving measures?
Poorly managed mental illness often has a fatal outcome — being homeless and dying from the elements, sepsis, drug addiction or natural causes. America, at the moment, is in a psychiatric dark age.
Erin Davis
Eugene
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.
None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
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