Once, she took a man into her apartment who drank and she joined him. Adding alcohol to her medications sent her into a crisis. The last time, it's unclear what happened. She just stopped taking care of herself. In Washington State, primary care for mental illness occurs in your community and all of the communities of the state.
Mental illness is a brain disease that can be treated and managed very successfully.
Fences, locks, and concrete walls are seldom needed for people with mental illness - 7 months out of 20 years for the woman in our story. The rest of the time, she and the approximately 30,000 other people with profound mental illness in our state live in their home community around you and me. Congress and the State Legislature make laws and provide funding for the treatment of mental illness. The Department of Social and Health Services contracts with Regional Support Networks comprised of one or more counties around the state. They in turn contract with local agencies that provide care including mental health centers, group homes, hospitals, clubhouses, and crisis clinics.