These patients are victims of a personal disorganization worsened by often well-meaning doctors and relatives who have little understanding of anyone who is different, who cannot articulate his or her needs in a socially acceptable way, who will not go along with their judgments. But the issue is not entirely one-sided. Treatment is not always forced on kicking and screaming victims. Most people do not choose to feel bad, to be sick, to freeze to death in a cardboard box under a bridge. There are just not a lot of alternatives, especially with budget cutting, elimination of social services, powerful pharmaceutical companies, and a mindset that stresses neurochemical imbalance rather than spiritual grappling of difficult life situations.
Drugs do more damage and have more negative effects than therapeutic value.
Conflicting diagnoses from professionals only add to the confusion. They achieve their goals through calmness and objectivity, sided by positive feedback, feelings of self-worth, autonomy, and social activism. They learn to play the game. I can personally attest to many of the points Susko makes, having taught painting and arts and crafts in the psychiatric unit of St. Joseph's Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey. I went through a short initiation period during which a rather belligerent teenage patient challenged me to relate what I saw about him from his paintings.