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PSYCH OUT

Bette Midler: Reagan to Blame for 'Intractable' Mental Health Problem

It's the latest shot at conservatives from the celeb

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by Dain Fitzgerald

Staff Writer t

Image: fanart.tv

Actress Bette Midler, she of "Beaches" fame and more, took to Twitter Wednesday to blame former POTUS Ronald Reagan for undermining mental health care in his time, and thus contributing to today's "intractable" problems surrounding the issue, reports News Busters.

"It feels as if mental health treatment is one of the most intractable problems we have had since Ronald Reagan emptied the institutions," expressed Midler, who hasn't shied away from lambasting conservatives in times past.

Midler is referring to the the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, signed into law in 1967 by then-California governor Reagan. The aim of the bill, which went into effect in 1972, was "to end inappropriate involuntary commitment of mentally disordered persons and people with developmental disabilities" in the Golden State. Spearheaded by two Democrats and one Republican, the legislation was motivated by liberal-leaning activists of the era who wanted to, as PBS describes it, allow for "the greatest degree of freedom, self-determination, autonomy, dignity for the individual while he or she participates in treatment or receives services."

In light of Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza's possible psychological troubles, Midler's lamenting of the state of mental health treatment is understandable. But it would seem she's pointing the partisan finger in the wrong direction in this case.

Via News Busters and PBS.
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Did deinstitutionalizing mental patients cause our current mental health crisis?

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  • View all 22 replies >
  • u
    Realthinker
    !
    Yes, that is exactly what happened. Reagan and the conservatives had nothing to do with it. In addition, the lawsuits also greatly increased the homeless population.
  • u
    AceLuby
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    I don't think it was about making their own decisions (though I'm sure there was a few), but most were suing over the horrible conditions and procedures that were normal day to day activities in those hospitals. Those horror stories about mental hospitals aren't all fiction. So you had lawsuits on one hand, you had pharmacists saying these people could be 'normal' if given the right drugs, and a budget crisis; so as a swift way to deal all of these issues the federal govt closed all mental health 'hospitals', but then did nothing after to ensure those people got the care they needed.
  • Thunderchicken
    !
    @AceLuby

    Yeah I'm pretty sure it was. If I remember the headlines of that time, allowing mentally incompetent people to make their own health care decisions was viewed by the ACLU as their right. The whole protecting them from themselves was considered a civil rights violation. And the argument on the other side was in favor of protecting society from them and how they would end up in jails or homeless and not getting the care they needed. Again IIRC this was also dealt with on a federal level.

    I won't argue that conditions in some (particularly for profit) institutions were and still are horrible.(I'm dealing with that right now with my 90yo dad.)
  • DogLady_1
    !
    Thunderchicken, you are erroneously assuming that all mentally ill people are also incompetent... and that is comepletely false. Statistics show that everyone of us either works, does business or lives with a person with mental illness. Incompetence is actually kinda rare... about 10% of all mentally ill people... the rest are fully capable of making decisions for themselves, if given the opprtunity to do so.
  • View all 10 replies >
  • MarkJM
    !
    Bette Midler, if they didn't cut mental health facilities back then, you wouldn't have been singing today. The Mental Health Problem was caused by BOTH parties you callous twit. Now go back and sing. Like the vast majority of the rest of Hollywood, nobody gives a crap as to what you think...
  • methinks
    !
    People like us don't give a shit what celebrities think, but low information voters who can name every contestant on American Idol but don't know who the VP is do pay attention.
  • scotta
    !
    Have you ever noticed the Hollywood bunch are experts on everything. The experts that disagree don't know anything, but the "Stars" know everything .
  • gammler
    !
    I've worked in the mental health system. People with bona fide mental health problems commit crimes at roughly the same rate as the general population. For an individual to have a mental health issue is not a crime by definition. There are SOME people with mental health issues to need to be institutionalized for their own protection or the protection of society, but they are a decided minority of that population.
  • stepped_in_it
    !
    "Spearheaded by two Democrats and one Republican, the legislation was motivated by liberal-leaning activists of the era " Does this political activist (sic) Midler realize that Reagan was a Conservative Republican and this was mostly liberals driven? Doubt it. Just spouting off to get your face in the limelight.....in a far faded career....sad, so sad!
  • aturner1971
    !
    This kid wasnt even alive during Reagans terms as president much less senator of CA. Sounds to me like some sort of partisan posturing. Does anyone think for themselves anymore or have they all become lemmings to some 'party'. Youd think someone from Midlers background as a rockstar would be all about freedom instead of following party agendas.
  • stepped_in_it
    !
    @woodtick57 Actually think he's talking about Lanza....or himself....Even so, I old enough to remember Midler and her films/singing....she was a rockstar?? Hardly!
  • View all 10 replies >
  • o
    Mogal
    !
    I would daresay Bette still makes more in residuals than you do in a year.
    But hey, if it makes you feel better to say she never had a career, even though she has been nominated for an Oscar, go for it.
    *rolls eyes
  • o
    Republican5001
    !
    @Mogal my right to express my opinion as I see fit. Not a fan if her and if you don't like it, change the channel. Why is it ok for you guys to dog out GW Bushir any republican or conservative but it not ok to return the favor? Liberal double standard, maybe?
  • o
    woodtick57
    !
    @Republican5001

    no worries, you can always say you do not like her work or her opinions, but to say she never had a successful career would be factually incorrect...basically lying about another human for your ideological gain... what kind of standard is that?
  • View all 31 replies >
  • wild_turkey6
    !
    So applying due process to mental health patients in the 1960s is causing problems today. Is there some insight into every aspect of government, foreign policy, and the economy that people gain when they become celebrities?
  • View all 6 replies >
  • justapirate
    !
    You have to consider the source- people of Midler's status don't have to deal with the real world on a daily basis. They can be dreamers just because they can. The majority of the rest of us have to dig around down here on ground level. I don't know that makes her basic point irrelevant but I don't think she's able to see reality, either. Reagan then or Obama now are nothing more than talking heads with a really neat title. What actually happens is based on what the rest of the politicians and bureaucrats do. Midler needs to realize that if she wants to be taken seriously.
  • u
    RobertJHarsh
    !
    I'd have to research this one but up until the 1980s, getting committed only took a phone cal from a family member. Now that is mostly illegal in most states. Now you have to go to court, get yourself declared a guardian of said crazy person, pay money, etc.
  • u
    CaryNickel
    !
    Reagan hasn't been President for a quarter century. If Midler thinks he did something wrong, it's time for her to explain why her buddies Clinton, who had 8 years, and Obama, who's had 4 so far, haven't "fixed" Reagan's "mistake" to her satisfaction.
  • TheJimmy
    !
    Most people would be surprised to know how much deinstitutionalization has shortened the life expectancies of the chronically mentally ill.
  • Mia
    !
    Is there an empty institution where old celebrities can go? Let them rant & spew their liberal nonsense to each other. Bette can go & play hostess. George clooney and his ilk can all live there. There has to be an empty institution somewhere in california in the right neighborhood of course, they dont want to be bothered by the riff-raff.
  • DogLady_1
    !
    It was the right move to stop institutionalization. But the system of care for those put out of institutions didn't chnage with it... THAT is what has caused today's problems. If there had been the proper supports in place in the community, with all MH professionals working toward the same goal, things would be a alot better now...

    Everyone seems so focused on mental illness as the culprit for mass shootings when it is clear to any sociologist that anomi is more to blame... anomi is the direct result of institutionalization of our schools, our mental health system, our places of employment, etc. When we have so many systems that create isolation and anonymity, so much bullying and forced conformity, we have to expect it to cause some to go nuts and attack anything that represents the source of their anomi.
  • PNWest
    !
    I know that I rarely saw homeless people on the streets until Reagan opened the doors of the mental institutions. Then they became a fixture on most street corners. I can't prove that it is cause and effect but....
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