A New Legislative Session Begins in January: Writing Letters to the Editor Is One Way to Have Your Voice Heardby Morgan W. Brown “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” –...
QUESTION: Does Vermont need a forensic psychiatric hospital? A forensic psychiatric hospital would house and treat criminal defendants who’ve been adjudicated incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of insanity. Vermont does not currently have...
Essay by Ron Merkin. All names, except the author’s, have been changed. Part One: Drugs “How do you feel about the use of psychotropic medication in the treatment of psychiatric patients?” she asked. Her question caught me completely unprepared. It was my first...
The term “mental health court” has the ring almost of an oxymoron. But for some criminal justice reformers, such programs (which include Vermont’s Chittenden Adult Drug Treatment and Mental Health Court Dockets) demonstrate a means of reducing the rate of...
The bandshell at Burlington’s Battery Park hosted speakers from across the state on Mad Pride Day. Excerpts follow. Chris Hansen, Burlington My chief qualification for being here is my own history of being seen as mad enough to lock up at a significant time in my...
How should psychiatric survivors and ex-patients interact with mainstream progressive demands for a fully funded mental health system? On July 31, the popular HBO show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver aired a 25-minute video essay about mental healthcare in the...