My Support Forums - View Single Post - DJ Jaffe and the Treatment Advocacy Center

spiritual_emergency · Mar 06, 2010 at 10:39 PM

Over at facebook, Mr. Jaffe had started a new group to promote Kendra's Law. I hadn't know much about it initially but I joined the group so I could find out more. I discovered that the premise of Kendra's Law is rooted in the assumption that people who are mentally ill are too ill to know as much and for this reason, society should put laws into place that will allow them to be treated by force.

I became quite disenchanted with the group when Mr. Jaffe (or his chosen moderators) removed some of my posts as related to the truth about Andrew Goldstein, the young man who had pushed Kendra Webdale to her death in a subway station. What follows are some of the links I had posted to that discussion which were promptly removed...

Quote:

"Your reporting is incomplete. Andrew Goldstein, who actively sought treatment, had been denied mental health services when his insurance ran out, is the person who pushed Kendra Webdale to her death. He was discharged to the streets of NY with no support or referral.Karen's parents are suing the hospitals that discharged him to the streets, Andrew's parent are not suing them. We do not know how many acts of violence are the result of denial of treatment. We are also unaware of the number of acts of violence that result from ineffective treatment. ..."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/03/01/2010-03-01_renew_kendras_law.html#ixzz0hJrnJ0k2

"It's not a matter of proving that he did it: No one disagrees that on January 3, 1999, Goldstein pushed 32-year-old Kendra Webdale to her death in front of a subway car. Regardless of the outcome, Andrew Goldstein will finally be sent someplace where he can't hurt anyone. But the fact that he begged to be hospitalized for two years before the crime, and was turned away by doctors who knew he was dangerously mentally ill, points to a system that's even crazier than he is..."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,40257,00.html#ixzz0hJzGHtP7

"Outpatient commitment statutes are often enacted hurriedly, typically in response to a single, well-publicized violent incident involving a person with mental illness. In New York, Kendra's Law was rushed through the legislature after the tragic death of Kendra Webdale, a young woman who was pushed in front of a subway train by Andrew Goldstein. When the bright lights fade, however, most states have abandoned the use of outpatient commitment. ...

Andrew Goldstein did not reject mental health treatment; instead, documents uncovered by a journalist revealed that Mr. Goldstein had diligently and persistently sought mental health treatment. The state had pushed through legislation designed to force unwilling or unable people to accept mental health treatment only to realize that it was the mental health system that was unwilling or unable to provide appropriate
treatment. This unwelcome news lead to the second realization, that people with mental illness would be forced to comply with treatment that didn't exist.

Source: http://www.peoplewho.org/readingroom/seltzer.htm

Do you see the irony in promoting forced treatment on someone who tried to get it but was consistently turned away due to lack of insurance?

If you find yourself scratching your head at the moment and wondering who is delusional and unable to discern fantasy from reality, I could hardly point fingers for I found myself doing the same thing.