Dear Editor:
What to do about the disenfranchised of Hudson County? The mentally ill men and women who are in need of out-patient resources, such as day-programs, to keep them healthy and connected to health care professionals?
An assisted out-patient treatment law (AOT) designed to establish a procedure for obtaining court orders for certain individuals with mental illness to receive and accept outpatient treatment would be helpful, but is not presently available in New Jersey. For those suffering from severe mental illness, and the families and friends that support them, the lack of out-patient assistance is another unsettling blow in a battle with a sickness that can cripple the very things most take for granted- meaningful relationships, employment, social acceptance, and adequate and independent housing. When the “deinstitutionalization” movement crested in the 1980s, these men and women found themselves discharged from state mental hospitals and dropped into communities that were ill-prepared and often unsympathetic to the unique health needs of the mentally ill.
Approximately one-third of the country’s dispossessed suffers from a severe mental illness. A great deal of them find provisional housing with family, until bridges are burned or tolerance wears thin. A small number bunk and board in group homes. Without adequate, consistent support systems such as community mental health day- programs, medication regimens are ignored and symptoms return, ultimately necessitating short-stay hospitalization.
To raise awareness and promote research in the treatment of chronic mental illness, The Bridgeway Program of Hudson Manor Care Center in Secaucus will host a community flea market on Saturday, Sept. 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The facility is located at 595 County Ave. All proceeds will be donated to the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), a nonprofit, grassroots advocacy organization for the consumers, families, and friends of the mentally ill. The Bridgeway Program is a home away from home to adult men and women suffering from mental illness. The goal of the program is to prepare residents for independent living and to assist in the transition from hospital to community.
For more information about the program or the flea market, call 201-863-8866.
LaVerne Ploom