Letter to the Editor

Where Was the Care?

Rosa Cedar’s plight ["Mother's Mercy," News, Dec. 24] is a reminder of how inadequate the mental health care system has become. Cedar had no one to turn to for help with her son. Because of the lack of mental health care options, he has now become involved with the legal system. If he is convicted he will go to jail, a place totally unsuited for a mentally ill person. He will not be rehabilitated, he will simply grow more ill.

And then what will happen when he is released? Will there suddenly be mental health services available to him and his mother then? Of course not. If there had been help available for him early on in his illness, this situation would have never gotten this far.

Christine Johnson

Editor’s note: The writer is founder of Psychosurgery.org. Levittown