To the editors:
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Karen Hoffman, the letter writer, makes some valid points, but let me tell you a story. In 1954, at the age of 18, my sister was diagnosed as a schizophrenic. Therapy never helped her–the Thorazine and Stelazine did, at least enough so that she could function and work. The problem was that she was always returned to our mother after being released from the hospital. Our mother has been dead since 1971; my sister has been in 3 or 4 halfway houses (gold mines for the owners); in 1972, she wound up homeless in Lansing, MI for nine months. She is now in a nursing home in a western suburb where she has become “institutionalized” i.e. she has a roof over her head, three meals a day, and free medical care. The “system” has destroyed her self-confidence and initiative. Therapy seems to me to be a rather expensive way to solve one’s personal problems. If one has the money and feels the need, that’s his decision. All I’m saying is that an entire industry has arisen in the world (not just America) that, for some people at least, is just a waste of time and money.
And as for psychoactive drugs, it’s strictly trial and error. I know another diagnosed schizophrenic who once told me he’s been on 21 different drugs over the last 25 years. He’s now taking Thorazine, the drug he originally started with.
