Expanding Mental Health 11-27-25

Yes, there are lobbying efforts and legislative support for constructing and funding mental health facilities, though the specific goals and methods vary among groups. Some mental health advocates and organizations lobby for more comprehensive community-based services, while others support building or expanding inpatient facilities, often in response to issues like homelessness and the care of severely mentally ill individuals. This includes both a bipartisan movement for more institutionalization and legislative initiatives to build or renovate facilities.  

Arguments for increased institutionalization

Lack of comprehensive care: The closure of many mental hospitals in the mid-to-late 20th century, a process known as deinstitutionalization, has been linked to increased homelessness and incarceration among the mentally ill.

Support from some providers: Some psychiatrists and policy experts support modern, large-scale institutions as a solution for severe mental illness, particularly for those with nowhere else to go.

Legislative action: Some lawmakers have pushed for federal funding to create new inpatient beds and facilities. 

Arguments for community-based services

Focus on community care: Many mental health advocates argue that the focus should be on expanding community-based care and addressing structural factors like poverty and discrimination that affect mental health.

Avoiding past mistakes: Critics of institutionalization point to the historical abuses in large asylums and argue that modern approaches should prioritize individualized and community-based care.

Addressing funding disparities: Some organizations advocate for federal and state policies that ensure equitable access to mental health services for everyone, regardless of background. 

There is no evidence to suggest that mental health providers are lobbying for the construction of "insane asylums," which is an outdated term associated with historical abuses. The current focus of many mental health provider advocacy groups is on modernizing existing state psychiatric hospitals, increasing funding for community-based care, and expanding access to mental health services. This approach prioritizes less-restrictive care and aims to reverse the "transinstitutionalization" of mentally ill individuals from hospitals to jails and prisons. 

Efforts related to modern psychiatric care and funding:

State hospital projects: Some states are building or renovating state psychiatric facilities to provide modernized inpatient services, often driven by government initiatives rather than provider lobbying for "asylums".

Community-based care: Mental health advocates, including provider groups, have historically lobbied for and secured funding for community-based services that allow people to live more independently.

Alternative care models: Organizations advocate for and have secured funding for alternative models like peer respites, which are crisis programs run by people with lived mental health experience.

Addressing the "transinstitutionalization" problem: Many advocates and experts recognize that historical deinstitutionalization efforts, which closed many large psychiatric hospitals, failed to provide adequate community resources. This led to many individuals with serious mental illness ending up homeless or incarcerated. Modern efforts focus on improving the entire continuum of care.

Challenging outdated practices: Advocacy groups like the National Disability Rights Network monitor facilities, investigate abuses, and protect the rights of individuals with mental illness. 

Contrast with political rhetoric:

Misleading narratives: Certain political figures have used rhetoric calling for increased psychiatric confinement, while at the same time proposing cuts to funding for oversight and care, according to some analyses.

Political motivations: Some reports indicate that political leaders sometimes suggest building mental health institutions while cutting related funding, potentially to make it appear they are addressing mental health issues without fully addressing the systemic problems. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=are+mental+health+providers+lobbying+for+more+insane+asylum+construction

Comments

For Mental Illnesses that lack cures, treatment is too expensive and facilities function as “warehouses” to protect Alzheimer Patients and contain Homicidal Maniacs. These could be “Research Facilities”.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader