Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sandy Shack here for Jeff Pooner, who is recovering nicely
from a bus accident. He'll be back next Monday, god willing.
Before we go back to Robert in Maine and our
conversation on whether we should reopen state mental asylums. As
President Trump suggests, it is time for truth or Troll,
where we ask the question is someone telling us the
(00:20):
truth or are they just trolling?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
This?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Take it away, Mike.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
And now America's favorite game show where you get to
decide on the Kooner Report.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
This is truth or Tall.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
All right?
Speaker 4 (00:42):
For today's entry of truth or Troll. It comes from
President Trump and his press conference at the White House yesterday,
when he is asked about deploying the National Guard to Chicago.
Your mind about Chicago, though, well.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
We're going in. I didn't say when we're going in.
When you lose, look, I have an obligation. This isn't
a political thing. I have an obligation when we lose.
When twenty people are killed over the last two and
a half weeks, and seventy five are shot with bullets.
So let me tell you a little story about a
place called DC District of Columbia.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
Right here, where we are.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
It's now a safe zone. We have no crime. It's
in such great shape. You can go and actually walk
with your children, your wife, your husband. You can walk
right down the middle of the street. You're not going
to be shot, Peter, You're safe.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
It sounds to me like President Trump is talking about
invading Chicago.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Yeah, so what do we think we're going in? That's
what he says. Is he just trolling or is this
a final warning to JB. Pritzker and Brandon Johnson to
get their crap together?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
This is hard. This is a hard one because with
anybody else I would say they were trolling. But I
am really not sure whether the President is telling the
truth or not. If I were to guess, I would
say the truth, this president would be telling the truth.
Anybody else would be just poking, poking jb Ritzker and
(02:07):
not Brandon Johnson. What do you think, Mike, I.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Think he's telling the truth too. I mean, he sounded
really sincere there.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, there's going to be a new a new front,
and it's going to go right down the river in Chicago.
So it's maybe the Navy. The Navy's going to deploy
off the Great Legs. I don't know it's going to
be It's going to be pretty interesting. Thank you so much, Mike.
I appreciate it food for thought. And we'll probably discuss
this a little bit later on this morning, whether we're
indeed going to invade Chicago, because it sounds to me
(02:35):
like we are. But back to the discussion of whether
we should reopen mental state mental hospitals. They were closed
for a reason twenty years ago, and or we thought
they were being closed for a reason, and that was
they were right for abuse, They were expensive, and according
to the official time, they weren't helping anybody. So if
(02:56):
they closed them and everybody went back out onto the streets,
and it didn't that really work out so well for anybody,
not for the people who were lot loose, and not
for the people who were walking the streets of the
various cities. It seems to have created a crime situation
and a pretty basic humanitarian situation for people who couldn't
(03:16):
take care of themselves. So President Trump wants to reopen them.
And we were talking to Robert and Maine before the
break and Robert, I'm sorry we were interrupted.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Hi, Hi, Sandy, can you still hear me?
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yeah, you're fine.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, yet nice call for you and your talented staff member, Mike. Yes,
Trump is Trump is serious about this. He uses the
word going in, and right away the people on the
other side of the PDS people say, see, see he
wants to go in and shoot people with military rifles,
which of course is completely wrong. But getting back to
(03:52):
what I was saying before, you know, a nice duel
name for these places that were called Oh, I don't
know that house is and all the rest of it.
Even state hospitals would be state diagnostic treatment and research
facilities because that's what would go on there. And Aaron
(04:13):
was right. You know, if you have ten people living
in in one of these homes, one of these Elliott's
Place homes, and one of them screaming all night, you've
got the cart before the horse. That person needs to
be identified in the system, go to these state diagnostic
centers and then get screened out where she he or
(04:35):
she may need to stay there and help with the
research and have programs to help with not just mental illness,
but weight gain, which is a big side effect of
some of these psychiatric medicines, and help them with their
weight gain, perhaps using one of the programs you and
others have used to help keep the weight off so
they'll stay on their medicines. I mean, the benefits are enormous,
(04:58):
and you got a lot of callers, so I don't
want to go onto this, but I do want to
say that Trump is serious and I think it'll happen,
because it's going to happen, and we can call them
state or public diagnostic treatment and research centers. One final point,
the medicines are getting much better. They will based on
one biological principle, not dopamine and regulating dopamine in the
(05:22):
brain in certain parts of the brain, and that works.
It stops the voices of the paranoia. The problem is
a lot of side effects. They've just developed several really
new medicines sub based on immunology, sub based on completely
different receptor systems than dopamine, and those seem not to
have as many side effects. They seem to be well tolerated.
(05:44):
But where do you find these answers to questions? Not
in private hospitals the size of the population isn't big enough.
But in the large state hospitals you can work with
these patients and have clinical trials just like you do
in large cancer centers to find out what works and
what does it work. So I've got a lot more
to say, Sandy, but that's just why two cents and
(06:06):
thanks for what you guys do.
Speaker 6 (06:07):
Well.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Thank you for the call, Robert. I appreciate it very much,
and I thought you made some very good suggestions, and
I think some of your observations are spot on. I
think the medicines are getting better, treatment is getting better.
And something that I'm hearing over and over again that
you suggested and some other caller suggested, is maybe while
we reopen state hospitals, we don't call them state hospitals.
We don't call them asylums, we don't call them. We
(06:30):
try to get away from the pejorative names and from
the bad associations that come with the name asylum or
state mental hospital. I'm not sure you can calling them
a state diagnostic and research facility rolls off the tongue,
but I think it's in the right place. I think
maybe that's we find something else to call them so
(06:53):
that people don't have such bad connotations with them. But
I think absolutely positively they need to be opened, and
I think they are for many reasons, one of which
is the humane reason to take care of these people
and to take the burden off the smaller houses such
as Aaron was having issues with. You know, when those
facilities are dealing with people that really are not appropriately
(07:15):
placed in those facilities because there's no other place to
put them. And I think having a state, a state
sanctioned hospital again, I think the time has come. Six
one seven two sixty six six eight six eight is
the themb to hear. This is Sandy Shack sitting in
for Jeff Kooner here on the Kooner Report. We're talking
about insane asylums, or should we be calling them something else.
(07:36):
President Trump wants to reopen them to get the criminally
insane off the streets. He said they should not be
walking around. This is part of his plan to come
back crime in the US in the major urban cities
like DC, Chicago, New York, LA, or wherever else there
may be crime. But it's interesting we've been talking about
(07:56):
what what we can do to make that possible. I
think it's a good idea to reopen them because I
think they serve a function. I think the function that
they serve as one humanitarian. It helps take care of
the criminally insane who otherwise are on the street and
who are prey or victims themselves as well as abusers.
And I also think that it protects the rest of
(08:21):
us from dealing with the criminally insane on the street,
because who knows what they will do. But a lot
of people don't like the name insane asylum or don't
like the pejorative you know, funny, funny farm nut house,
things like that, and there's a stigma attached, and so
you want people to be able to be comfortable going
(08:42):
to these places if they are reopened. On the text
line seven zero four seven zero two o seven suggests
call them psychiatric centers. I think that's a better name
than insane asylum, without a doubt. I think psychiatric center
is better. And then the previous callers said, how about
State Diagnostic and Research Facility. Okay, I think psychiatric center
(09:08):
is probably a little more malifluous, But I think what's
in a name. I think if you can get people
to reopen them and establish care for people who are
not well enough to be in the halfway houses, I
think that is an important step to both protecting us
(09:29):
and protecting them. Also, on the text line, let's see
five eight, says Ken. Cassiu's book One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest, which took place in the early sixties, revealed
a system that was stuck in the past with such
treatment as frontal lobotomies and electroshock therapy. Yeah, but this
(09:50):
is not We're not talking about re establishing One Flew
Over the Cuckoo's Nest. We're talking about a new, modernized
version of the psychiatric center. We're talking about newer medicines,
newer treatment, better oversight. As one former text or our
previous text or pointed out, you're in an era now
(10:14):
where people have cameras everywhere, and I think that oversight
would be a lot easier now than it was during
during that particular period of time. And then see seven
eight one, says Sandy on a lighter note, to make
a joke. Shouldn't democratic states be the most on board
with this idea. It's a win win for them. One
their state is safer. Two they'll have mental institutions full
(10:36):
of mentally ill people that they can harvest ballots from
with an address and everything. I'd be playing chess, not checkers.
Speaker 6 (10:44):
You know.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
I think that that's one way to sell it to them,
so you know, everybody wins in that particular situation. So
what do you think. Do you think it's a good
idea to reopen a state mental asylums? Do we change
the name? Do you leave the name the same? Is
this a good use of your tax dollars? Selena and Methuen,
Welcome to WRKO.
Speaker 7 (11:06):
How are you, Selena, I'm good, Sandy, thank you very
much for taking my call. How are you?
Speaker 1 (11:11):
I am fine. Do you think this is a good
idea that President Trump had?
Speaker 7 (11:16):
I absolutely do, And as always, Trump is always right.
I'm so glad that he just loves the people and
he loves helping everybody. I come from a background with
a lot of mental illness people in my family, and
I'm not ashamed to say that I have a mental
illness too, and I have been hospitalized four times and
(11:39):
they do everything right. I don't know from years and
years ago, because I you know, I've read up on
it back way back in the past. It was horrible.
They did treat the patients wrong. And I like to
be called I would like a hospital would be called
(12:00):
mental illness, because that's what it is. You're chemically imbalanced.
And you can't control it and it is not your fault,
like you see, for instance, the guy in Maine, he
knew he was going to do it. He was in
a mental hospital and he specifically told everybody what he
(12:20):
was going to do, and they continue to let him
out and then look at the horrific thing that happened.
So it is it is a good idea and a
good idea that Trump wants to do what he wants
to do, and it should be controlled better because you
don't want this to continue to happen, and you do
(12:43):
want to clean up the streets because there are people
that do beg for help and it's not there.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
No, that's right, it isn't there. And I think that
the point that Aaron was making earlier was a good one.
I don't know if you grease Alina, and that is
you have. I think these these independent living places are vital,
but I think they're over filled to capacity and they
would have and they may have the wrong people in
(13:10):
them because there's no other place to put those people.
And I think if you had a state hospital where
you could put people who really cannot function on their own,
it would leave room for people who can who are
who are dealing with either medication or therapy, whatever it is,
(13:31):
that it's helping them and do have the opportunity to
transition out of the system with care and help. I
think it makes it easier for them to be in
a situation where they're not one have to deal with
somebody who is who is criminally insane, as opposed to
having a mental illness. I think they're two completely different things,
(13:52):
and I think it. I think everybody benefits. I think
the people who are living in the halfway house benefits
because they have they have more focus on them and
what they need, and they're in a situation that's going
to help them thrive, as opposed to one that could
possibly set them back. And I think that's what happens
when you have people that don't belong there, who are there?
(14:15):
Am I making any sense to you, Selena, do?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (14:18):
You do?
Speaker 7 (14:18):
No, You're absolutely right. I just think it's a very
good idea that Trump is on board. And what I
love about him is people, a lot of people, well
the Democrats don't give him any credit at all, which
he deserves all the credit in the world, because see
he's even thinking about this, He's all he does all
(14:39):
the time, is just thinks about how to make the
world better. And I just I can't comment enough on
how like when I first heard this topic that you
were saying, I'm like, oh my goodness, he's thinking again
on how to make the world better, trying to make
the streets safe, trying to make everybody safe. And not
(15:00):
only that, he's trying to help those people that are
criminally insane to try and get them better. That's all
he ever want to do is just help everybody.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Yeah, I think that's a fair assessment of why he
suggested this. I think he is trying to make everybody better.
Thank you so much for joining us, Selena. I really
appreciate it, and I wish you so much luck and
I hope the system doesn't fail you. It sounds like
you are working very hard at your own health and
well being, and I think that's fantastic and our thoughts
(15:32):
and prayers are with you. Thank you so much. Let's
talk to John in Newburyport. John, welcome to WRKO.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
How are you sir, morning, Samby, how are you?
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I'm fine? Do you agree with opening up centers? And
by the way, I have on the text line a
few other suggestions for names. Besides state asylums, we have
the centrist for healing, and we have how about wellness centers?
Do you do any of these?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I'm sorry, go ahead, you're my opinion.
Speaker 8 (16:00):
Whatever they call him is kind of It really doesn't matter.
The point is Jeffards I am one thousand percent for this.
I had first hand experience dealing with it. Past women
said that family members what happened with me? This was
my experience. Me and my older sister had my brother
(16:21):
who passed away from mental illness, and a lot of
this mental illness is accompanied with drug or alcoholism. And
what would happen was me and my sister. He was
living on the street and he was talking to himself,
my brother, and he was the nicest guy, but he
had illness and he would not go get help. So
we would go to the court and they would say
(16:43):
we need an address to go pick him up, or
he has to commit a crime. He hasn't committed a crime,
so we had problems getting him into treatment to get
him help. And then once it happened, thirty days would
go by and they would kick him loose and we
would go back to the court. They say, you have
to come back in another year. So touching, you keep
(17:04):
touching on. It has to be different, absolutely in that aspect,
because you can't even get these people into these places.
Because it was the psychiatrist to the court was telling us,
you need an address and blah blah blah.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
So you're saying, you're saying, John, we need more than
just the hospital's reopen. We need legislation that enables that
enables family members or authorities to help somebody help themselves basically.
Speaker 8 (17:33):
And in denial of their of their disease and their illness,
and then how do you get them in there committed?
And then it is definitely, definitely a very serious problem.
I drive for a living them out in a row.
It's it's very sad. They walk around all over the place,
like you said, the woman, poor woman, people talking to
themselves in the driveway. And another thing that I've witnessed
(17:57):
is when you have two people a male a female
that have mental illness and addiction, then they have children,
and then it perpetuates into a much bigger problem. It's
just it's very unfortunate, but absolutely they need to open it,
especially Massachusetts, the way they squander our tax dollars absolutely
(18:18):
to this.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Well, thank you so much for the call, John, I
appreciate it very much. And I think that seems to
be the resounding response is that people think that President
Trump is on the right track. But I completely agree
with you. More is needed than just reopening the hospitals.
And I mean we can make a list of things
that need to change. One besides open the facilities, you
(18:42):
need to make sure there's better oversight than there has
been in the past. We know that there are better treatments.
And John brings up an interesting point, and that is
you need legislation that that helps family members and possibly
you know, local authorities help people who are already who
(19:03):
can't help themselves, because if you have a mental illness,
you can't necessarily your judgment is not sound, and when
you're trying to assess what you might need, how desperate
a situation you might be in. And I understand, you know,
everybody's freedoms and rights to guaranteed by the Constitution, but
(19:24):
there has to be some space in there for legislation
that helps people who cannot help themselves. Our text number
is seven zero four seven zero nine seven eight on
the text line. This text machine moves really fast if
you're not upon it nine seven eight, says Sandy. The
(19:46):
issue here isn't any mental health or addiction treatment. The
left and their NGOs believe people in the streets want
to be there and choose that lifestyle, but that cannot
be true for people who are completely addicted or severely
mentally and stable. Just housing them is not enough. We
need forced treatment, forced treatment. I'm a little uncomfortable with
(20:09):
that idea. With forced treatment, I think there has to
be something in between what we have now, which is
somebody with reduced faculties left to make the decision of
themselves whether they agree to treatment or whether they've committed
a crime. The police can go get them if they've
committed a crime, and forced treatment. I think that maybe
(20:34):
some kind of of due process system where a board
of health officials may be review a case made by
a family member that somebody needs treatment, and I think
you need more than one person deciding if somebody has
to have treatment. I think it needs to be there
(20:56):
has to be some kind of way to have somebody
a group of people review it and you have to
have to appeal from that. I think you need that
kind of system in there so that you're not looking
at an abusive system where somebody can just point their
finger and require somebody to get treatment. I think that's
a problem, and that is a system that would be
(21:18):
open to abuse. So I think we need to come
up with something while we're talking about what changes we
can make to make this a workable system for everybody.
I think that's one of the things that we have
to talk about, whether you can force somebody into treatment,
or whether we put a system in place that aids
in that. Because right now, having as you've spoken, we've
(21:40):
spoken this morning with family members and people themselves who
have issues and we're unable to make the decision because
they were in denial or they just didn't have the
wherewithal to recognize what they were doing, and the police
can't help because they haven't committed a crime, and these
families are left in limbo and somebody's left to hurt
(22:00):
themselves or other people, and it's just a horrible situation.
So there has to be a change there, and I
think a legislative change that creates, you know, some kind
of of review board in regard to commitment might be
the answer. What do you think of that. Let's go
to Linda and Medford. Linda, what do you think about
(22:23):
some kind of due process system to decide whether somebody
needs treatment or not in one of these state hospitals
that President Trump wants to open.
Speaker 9 (22:32):
Well, I wanted to address another issue about the homeless
situation with those who need psychiatric care. Years back, when
they closed the asylums, they gave the patients prescription, but
(22:55):
when somebody starts deteriorating mentally, it's difficult for them to
orchestrate getting to the pharmacy, getting the prescription, and of
course having some money to pay for the prescription. And
what they were doing is they were showing up at
the hospital's emergency and that's not the place to treat
(23:22):
anything that's long term. So they might get.
Speaker 10 (23:26):
A prescription, but in the end, they all just didn't
have the wherewithal to be out on the street without
somebody monitoring them. And I think it's a good idea
to open up some of these facilities now because I
(23:50):
think they should be housed.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Above.
Speaker 10 (23:54):
You know some of the individuals that are coming.
Speaker 9 (23:57):
Here illegally yes and getting housing, and you know the
ve's that could use housing that were injured.
Speaker 11 (24:08):
I think it's a very complicated issue, and I think
it's important to recognize that you can't say, well, this
person has been with us for.
Speaker 9 (24:19):
Thirty days, they're doing well. Well, they can be discharged
because within two or three months they're back in the
same state.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah, no, that's right, without oversight, without and that's what
those houses, the one, like Aaron was saying, was next
door to her, I think are four and are you know,
are terrific. It's a great idea, but I think that
they are swamped. I think they cannot give the attention
(24:48):
to their residents that they need to, and I think
they have residents that are not appropriate for them because
there's no other place to put them. So I think
that you I think the problem that you're talking about
can be handled by of course opening facilities that you know, healthcare,
(25:09):
like walking health care facilities to help a lot of
these people as opposed to having them go to the
emergency room. But also these transition houses independent living houses,
I think are also an important factor. But they can't
do their job right now because they're overwhelmed by people
who really should be in a more structured environment like
a mental hospital. Don't you think it's interesting Linda do
(25:30):
you think that President Trump intended this conversation when he
mentioned to the reporter, yes, I think we should open asylums.
I mean, he said this when he was running for president,
and he's been following through just ticking off the boxes
of his campaign promises, and this was one of them.
But by just mentioning opening the insane asylums, I state
(25:52):
assane asylums again, he is basically generated this entire conversation
regarding what other things we need to do in order
to help both the criminally insane who are on the street,
the people who aren't criminally insane but who have been
left to fend for themselves on the street, the people
who are on the street who aren't insane but have
to deal with both of the two above, and families
(26:15):
that are in distress because they don't know how to
get help, for people who have a mental illness that
could be easily treatable through medication or therapy, but who
can't get the help. So look at all the levels
of conversation that have come from President Trump's you thirty
second recommendation during an interview, do you think that was
(26:36):
his intention?
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Well?
Speaker 9 (26:40):
I think I think one we need to ask and
to change the term in say the asylum, but New
York has the homeless.
Speaker 10 (26:50):
They're living in the subways and.
Speaker 9 (26:53):
It's like that throughout the country for the most part.
The other thing is that they do when they get
their oftentimes they're selling them to get something to eat.
So again that's another reason they don't maintain.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, so that's another reason why I think you need
that the centers and the transition houses. But and I
think they're great. I think they are absolutely. They are
one of those big steps that we took in the
modern age meaning modern after you know, nineteen seventy, basically
to help with people, facilitate people re entering society after
(27:31):
being in a mental hospital. But I think that the
closing of the state asylums put an undue burden on
them and have crushed them. And I don't think that
they get a fair shake for because they're overwhelmed with
what they have to do. And I think that's one
of the things that we need to fix. Thank you
(27:51):
for the Collinda, I appreciate it very much. Let's go
to John in Peaboddy. John, Welcome to WRKO. How are you, sir?
I'm doing fine things, so do you agree with President Trump,
do we need to reopen the state asylums?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
I do.
Speaker 12 (28:08):
And my wife had complained about those few years because
she worked at the Dare Island facility, and I think
it was through CAUCUSS at the time, we might have
closed a lot of these facilities down. And then later
on when she was working in Boston after she lost
that job, she would see most of these patients wandering
around Columbus parkhow and she's like, my god, he says,
(28:29):
I recognize that person. She attacks some of our staff.
So I think in the endgame, Sandy not to step
off the subject at all. Is that the Democrats, I think,
lose a lot of their their mental facility faculty is
because Trump is probably one of the few governments in
(28:55):
charge that tries to fix a lot of problems with
wasted taxpayers money. And I think the Democrats get a
little agitated with that because I think sometimes in their
minds it's their own little cookie jar dipping their hands
in these wasted programs. And when Trump uses wasted taxpayers
(29:18):
money to fix these problems, it's the one thing that
separates him from typical government, because government is always looking
to spend tax payer's money on profit and revenue as
opposed to fixing problems that have been happening for years.
And like it says, Trump's finding wasted money to put
it where it belongs. He's not like adding to a deficit.
(29:41):
He's basically putting, like it says, the pegs in the
right hole, you know. And I think that's what aggravates
Democrats is because, like it says, they don't like seeing
this man stepping up and correcting problems that they either
just didn't take the time to do themselves. It's just
(30:04):
it's sort of just a jealous move.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Oh, it's absolutely so, that's such a good word. It
absolutely is a jealous move. And it's I think it's
based in two different things, John. I think it's based
in one, they can't let him win on anything or
succeeded anything, because that means that he's right and they're wrong.
And if that's the case, then voters are going to
(30:29):
support him and not them, and they can't allow that
to happen. And two, a lot of these problems are
of their making, and if they to admit he succeeded
at something, they had to admit there was a problem
in the first place, and then they have to look
in the mirror, and they don't want to do that either.
So I think you're absolutely right. What do you think
about the state asylums system? Do we need to rename
(30:54):
it to make it more palatable to people? Maybe call
it the wellness centers or psychiatric centers or are you
good with state mental hospital?
Speaker 12 (31:02):
Well, I think maybe mental wellness center.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
That sounds yeah, you know, actually.
Speaker 12 (31:08):
If that's simplified enough and not like it says too
too blunt of a you know of a phrase. Like
I said, my wife for years had worked around people
like this, and you know, this is something she's always
argued about, is you know, losing that particular job, even
though she said it was very stressful, but it's sort
(31:30):
of her background. Yeah, but you know, and she said, someday,
you know, it may be corrected. But you know, if
this has brought into mainstream now, you know, maybe, like
I says, maybe it might have a very big impact
on crime and all these I mean, look at look
at the veterans, what they're also going through. They're still
(31:52):
like I is, wandering aimlessly to find out, you know,
their futures. It took for her nephew fifteen years to
finally get the V eight to step up and you know,
take care of his disability. You know, it's it's just, yeah,
it's just a lot of I guess there's a lot
of wasted money and programs as just hopefully you know,
(32:14):
Trump's trying to plug him in the right places.
Speaker 5 (32:16):
Now.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
It seems like he is, don't you think, John, I mean,
it seems like he's just going through a list. He
identified a lot of these problems when he was running
for president. He said, we need to do ABCD and
he just seems to be checking them off one and
within the first year in office, he just seems to
be going right through the list. And this was one
of the things that he said. And I played the
campaign video that he that he did earlier in the
(32:39):
show and the first actually, I think like the first
or second segment of the show today, and he said
this was a problem, and I'm going to deal with it.
And we're eight months in and he's making the suggestion
let's reopen the state mental hospitals. Now it's a lot
more difficult than just saying, okay, let's reopen it. We
know that it's there's a lot that goes into it,
and the state has to since the state sponsored hospital,
(33:02):
the state has to go along with it. But there's
a lot of stuff the federal government can do, like
give the state, you know, federal tax dollars that can
only be used for that as opposed to using taking
it and using it for you know, immigrant families or
cell phones or programs of that nature. You can specify,
and I think that's what needs to happen, and so
(33:24):
we need the congressional delegation on board with that as well.
And then I think you have all sorts of levels
the thing that need to happen. You need to have,
like I said, some kind of system set up for
legislation regarding helping families get another family member help, or
(33:44):
maybe they don't have family and they need some kind
of intervention, maybe by a social worker or a local official,
and you need a review board that can do that.
And so you're not just Willie Lilly saying you over
there you need psychiatric help because you can't do that.
(34:06):
That's a little bit too draconian. You need to find
a way to do it. There's so many things that
we need to work on in this but I applaud
President Trump for starting the conversation by simply making one suggestion,
and that it was to reopen the state hospitals. And
I support it too. Thank you for the call, John,
I appreciate it very much. Laura in New Badford, welcome
(34:27):
to WRKO. How are you, Laura.
Speaker 6 (34:31):
You're doing a great job filling it in.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Thank you very much. I appreciate that. So do you
think President Trump's on the right track here?
Speaker 6 (34:39):
I do, I do really quick. I've seen both sides
of a coin. I've I've battled my own mentally illness
since I was about thirty five, married thirty three years,
two great adult children. I work part time and mental
(35:00):
health facility.
Speaker 11 (35:03):
And.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
I think, I think every case when a patient gets
discharged needs to it needs to be assessed case by case.
You can't just say, oh, let's just send them to
a family. Oh, you know, the social workers. If anyone's
looking for a job. This is just my opinion. Social
work needs to be a career that these college kids
(35:29):
need to look at. Really. I mean, because some people,
seriously I am, I'm trying to do good. I know
I'm nervous. Some people go to group homes. Some people
go to programs. Some people go to like addiction programs.
(35:54):
Some people go back to their families. And I am
my strong point at my job. I work at the
front desk, but I do visitors, phone calls, set up
medical records, blah blah bl out or whatever hat they
want to put on me. But and caretakers. You know,
these these families are distrust when they come visit. Some
(36:16):
of them are, you know, they're good, they come every
day or every week or whatever. But it's it's a
tough sell to come visit, you know, it's really tough.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
I've done it, Laura. I've done it myself with a
family member, and so I know exactly what you're talking about.
It is very difficult, and it's for both the person
who's in the hospital and for the family visiting because
you are in distress as the person visiting, because you're
you're family members in distress and you want them to
(36:48):
be better. You want them to be to get the
most out of the situation that they find themselves in
so that they can come out and be with you.
And it is it is a situation ratful of emotion
and fear, and it is it is very difficult. And
I think that opening the state asylums and taking some
(37:10):
of the pressure off the lower level mental hospitals would
be just like taking the pressure off of the transition houses.
I think would be a great idea. I also think
that training is incredibly important, and I love your suggestion of,
you know, bringing this up in more college courses and
(37:33):
maybe bringing some state universities. You can't make public private
universities do anything wellless of course you give them money
to do it. But maybe in the state universities, putting
more of an emphasize emphasis emphasis on social work and
letting people know what kind of rewarding careers are out
there is certainly I think a big step in helping
(37:54):
correct you know, a dearth of social work that is
out there now. I think that's a great idea, Laura.
You must I know it's a difficult job, but you
must get a lot out of helping people at your job.
Speaker 6 (38:14):
I come from a background of dimension memory care for
like thirty years and then I needed a break from it,
and then I got a job myself, and this is
the job I got myself, and I think I'm good
at it. You know, I've got some issues with the
charts and okay, it'd only worked twenty hours. I'm sixty
three years old, and so you know, like if they
(38:36):
want to, I've never been written up. There'll be two
years in November. So I've, like I said, I've seen
both sides of the coin. I take medication myself, and
I to be perfectly honest with you, I'm transparent with
some of my visitors. I'll say, listen, I take medication.
It's not a big deal. And I always say, you
take whatever you have, from high blood pressure to mountal illness.
(39:00):
Acknowledge what you have and go with it. Acknowledge it.
Just say I have this, it's okay, and that's all.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
I think that's reassuring to people, Laura, when you do that,
because I can tell you. I mean, if if I
was dealing with somebody going to visit a family member
and met you at the hospital at the front desk,
and you were telling me about the fact that you're
on medication, I would be thrilled to pieces because you're
an articulate, intelligent, lovely woman, and it's hopeful you see
(39:30):
somebody functioning really well on medication, and it makes you
hopeful for your family members. So I think what you're
doing is very kind to tell people.
Speaker 6 (39:40):
The only thing I had really quick. I know you
have a million people waiting. I'm still struggling with what
do you call transgender. We have a lot of little
like a unit that the parents come in. It's just
probably the way I grew up and my good friends
fun is and I struggle with it because the girl
(40:04):
who I used to work with will went to a
different job to say he or she person. It's like,
I get all crazy.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
It could be confusing. It can be very confusing, especially
if you nuse somebody before the transition and then after
the transition and you slip up and you don't want
to offend anybody, but you're not sure what the what
is the etiquee? I mean, there are all sorts of
questions with that, so I completely understand. Thank you so
much for the call, Laura. I really appreciate it, and
I think it gives people a lot of insight into
(40:35):
into the world of the mental hospitals and what it's
like to work there, and what a little act of
kindness can do when you're there, like sharing something personal
like you yourself or my medication. I think is a wonderful
thing to do. Let's go to Dave in Vermont. Dave,
Welcome to w RKO. How are you, sir, Good morning, Shandy.
Speaker 5 (40:57):
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (40:58):
I am fine. Do you think this is a good
idea to reopen the state asylums?
Speaker 5 (41:03):
Yes? I knew, and let me explain why. Upon arrival
back into the country from World War Two, a couple
of my uncles went to work for the Fernal School.
We grew up in the area not known as the
Boon Dogs back then, up in northern Wister County, and
(41:23):
they went to work for the school. One of my
uncles was he headed the maintenance department, and the other
one was working on one of the farms. And they
were a productive farms. And I've been on the farms
many times to watch. I remember cutting blocks of ice
out of the pond and hauling at my oxen down
to the ice house and burying it the sawdust. And
(41:45):
the people that worked on there were the residents of
the Fernal Farm. And so I saw these people coming
back a lot of more returnees from World War two
and they found purpose in their life. And this worked
out at both farms. The other farm was more productive,
(42:09):
but they had more vegetables, and some of these people
were out running the farm stands in the fall and everything.
But I think productivity these people found a purpose in
their life and it helped them. It's necessary.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Yeah, I think productivity is necessary for everybody, no matter
what level you're on. Dave, I need you to stand
on the line for it because we're about to go
into a break
Sandy Shack here for Jeff Pooner, who is recovering nicely
from a bus accident. He'll be back next Monday, god willing.
Before we go back to Robert in Maine and our
conversation on whether we should reopen state mental asylums. As
President Trump suggests, it is time for truth or Troll,
where we ask the question is someone telling us the
(00:20):
truth or are they just trolling?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
This?
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Take it away, Mike.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
And now America's favorite game show where you get to
decide on the Kooner Report.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
This is truth or Tall.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
All right?
Speaker 4 (00:42):
For today's entry of truth or Troll. It comes from
President Trump and his press conference at the White House yesterday,
when he is asked about deploying the National Guard to Chicago.
Your mind about Chicago, though, well.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
We're going in. I didn't say when we're going in.
When you lose, look, I have an obligation. This isn't
a political thing. I have an obligation when we lose.
When twenty people are killed over the last two and
a half weeks, and seventy five are shot with bullets.
So let me tell you a little story about a
place called DC District of Columbia.
Speaker 5 (01:15):
Right here, where we are.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
It's now a safe zone. We have no crime. It's
in such great shape. You can go and actually walk
with your children, your wife, your husband. You can walk
right down the middle of the street. You're not going
to be shot, Peter, You're safe.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
It sounds to me like President Trump is talking about
invading Chicago.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Yeah, so what do we think we're going in? That's
what he says. Is he just trolling or is this
a final warning to JB. Pritzker and Brandon Johnson to
get their crap together?
Speaker 1 (01:46):
This is hard. This is a hard one because with
anybody else I would say they were trolling. But I
am really not sure whether the President is telling the
truth or not. If I were to guess, I would
say the truth, this president would be telling the truth.
Anybody else would be just poking, poking jb Ritzker and
(02:07):
not Brandon Johnson. What do you think, Mike, I.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Think he's telling the truth too. I mean, he sounded
really sincere there.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah, there's going to be a new a new front,
and it's going to go right down the river in Chicago.
So it's maybe the Navy. The Navy's going to deploy
off the Great Legs. I don't know it's going to
be It's going to be pretty interesting. Thank you so much, Mike.
I appreciate it food for thought. And we'll probably discuss
this a little bit later on this morning, whether we're
indeed going to invade Chicago, because it sounds to me
(02:35):
like we are. But back to the discussion of whether
we should reopen mental state mental hospitals. They were closed
for a reason twenty years ago, and or we thought
they were being closed for a reason, and that was
they were right for abuse, They were expensive, and according
to the official time, they weren't helping anybody. So if
(02:56):
they closed them and everybody went back out onto the streets,
and it didn't that really work out so well for anybody,
not for the people who were lot loose, and not
for the people who were walking the streets of the
various cities. It seems to have created a crime situation
and a pretty basic humanitarian situation for people who couldn't
(03:16):
take care of themselves. So President Trump wants to reopen them.
And we were talking to Robert and Maine before the
break and Robert, I'm sorry we were interrupted.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Hi, Hi, Sandy, can you still hear me?
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yeah, you're fine.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, yet nice call for you and your talented staff member, Mike. Yes,
Trump is Trump is serious about this. He uses the
word going in, and right away the people on the
other side of the PDS people say, see, see he
wants to go in and shoot people with military rifles,
which of course is completely wrong. But getting back to
(03:52):
what I was saying before, you know, a nice duel
name for these places that were called Oh, I don't
know that house is and all the rest of it.
Even state hospitals would be state diagnostic treatment and research
facilities because that's what would go on there. And Aaron
(04:13):
was right. You know, if you have ten people living
in in one of these homes, one of these Elliott's
Place homes, and one of them screaming all night, you've
got the cart before the horse. That person needs to
be identified in the system, go to these state diagnostic
centers and then get screened out where she he or
(04:35):
she may need to stay there and help with the
research and have programs to help with not just mental illness,
but weight gain, which is a big side effect of
some of these psychiatric medicines, and help them with their
weight gain, perhaps using one of the programs you and
others have used to help keep the weight off so
they'll stay on their medicines. I mean, the benefits are enormous,
(04:58):
and you got a lot of callers, so I don't
want to go onto this, but I do want to
say that Trump is serious and I think it'll happen,
because it's going to happen, and we can call them
state or public diagnostic treatment and research centers. One final point,
the medicines are getting much better. They will based on
one biological principle, not dopamine and regulating dopamine in the
(05:22):
brain in certain parts of the brain, and that works.
It stops the voices of the paranoia. The problem is
a lot of side effects. They've just developed several really
new medicines sub based on immunology, sub based on completely
different receptor systems than dopamine, and those seem not to
have as many side effects. They seem to be well tolerated.
(05:44):
But where do you find these answers to questions? Not
in private hospitals the size of the population isn't big enough.
But in the large state hospitals you can work with
these patients and have clinical trials just like you do
in large cancer centers to find out what works and
what does it work. So I've got a lot more
to say, Sandy, but that's just why two cents and
(06:06):
thanks for what you guys do.
Speaker 6 (06:07):
Well.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Thank you for the call, Robert. I appreciate it very much,
and I thought you made some very good suggestions, and
I think some of your observations are spot on. I
think the medicines are getting better, treatment is getting better.
And something that I'm hearing over and over again that
you suggested and some other caller suggested, is maybe while
we reopen state hospitals, we don't call them state hospitals.
We don't call them asylums, we don't call them. We
(06:30):
try to get away from the pejorative names and from
the bad associations that come with the name asylum or
state mental hospital. I'm not sure you can calling them
a state diagnostic and research facility rolls off the tongue,
but I think it's in the right place. I think
maybe that's we find something else to call them so
(06:53):
that people don't have such bad connotations with them. But
I think absolutely positively they need to be opened, and
I think they are for many reasons, one of which
is the humane reason to take care of these people
and to take the burden off the smaller houses such
as Aaron was having issues with. You know, when those
facilities are dealing with people that really are not appropriately
(07:15):
placed in those facilities because there's no other place to
put them. And I think having a state, a state
sanctioned hospital again, I think the time has come. Six
one seven two sixty six six eight six eight is
the themb to hear. This is Sandy Shack sitting in
for Jeff Kooner here on the Kooner Report. We're talking
about insane asylums, or should we be calling them something else.
(07:36):
President Trump wants to reopen them to get the criminally
insane off the streets. He said they should not be
walking around. This is part of his plan to come
back crime in the US in the major urban cities
like DC, Chicago, New York, LA, or wherever else there
may be crime. But it's interesting we've been talking about
(07:56):
what what we can do to make that possible. I
think it's a good idea to reopen them because I
think they serve a function. I think the function that
they serve as one humanitarian. It helps take care of
the criminally insane who otherwise are on the street and
who are prey or victims themselves as well as abusers.
And I also think that it protects the rest of
(08:21):
us from dealing with the criminally insane on the street,
because who knows what they will do. But a lot
of people don't like the name insane asylum or don't
like the pejorative you know, funny, funny farm nut house,
things like that, and there's a stigma attached, and so
you want people to be able to be comfortable going
(08:42):
to these places if they are reopened. On the text
line seven zero four seven zero two o seven suggests
call them psychiatric centers. I think that's a better name
than insane asylum, without a doubt. I think psychiatric center
is better. And then the previous callers said, how about
State Diagnostic and Research Facility. Okay, I think psychiatric center
(09:08):
is probably a little more malifluous, But I think what's
in a name. I think if you can get people
to reopen them and establish care for people who are
not well enough to be in the halfway houses, I
think that is an important step to both protecting us
(09:29):
and protecting them. Also, on the text line, let's see
five eight, says Ken. Cassiu's book One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest, which took place in the early sixties, revealed
a system that was stuck in the past with such
treatment as frontal lobotomies and electroshock therapy. Yeah, but this
(09:50):
is not We're not talking about re establishing One Flew
Over the Cuckoo's Nest. We're talking about a new, modernized
version of the psychiatric center. We're talking about newer medicines,
newer treatment, better oversight. As one former text or our
previous text or pointed out, you're in an era now
(10:14):
where people have cameras everywhere, and I think that oversight
would be a lot easier now than it was during
during that particular period of time. And then see seven
eight one, says Sandy on a lighter note, to make
a joke. Shouldn't democratic states be the most on board
with this idea. It's a win win for them. One
their state is safer. Two they'll have mental institutions full
(10:36):
of mentally ill people that they can harvest ballots from
with an address and everything. I'd be playing chess, not checkers.
Speaker 6 (10:44):
You know.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
I think that that's one way to sell it to them,
so you know, everybody wins in that particular situation. So
what do you think. Do you think it's a good
idea to reopen a state mental asylums? Do we change
the name? Do you leave the name the same? Is
this a good use of your tax dollars? Selena and Methuen,
Welcome to WRKO.
Speaker 7 (11:06):
How are you, Selena, I'm good, Sandy, thank you very
much for taking my call. How are you?
Speaker 1 (11:11):
I am fine. Do you think this is a good
idea that President Trump had?
Speaker 7 (11:16):
I absolutely do, And as always, Trump is always right.
I'm so glad that he just loves the people and
he loves helping everybody. I come from a background with
a lot of mental illness people in my family, and
I'm not ashamed to say that I have a mental
illness too, and I have been hospitalized four times and
(11:39):
they do everything right. I don't know from years and
years ago, because I you know, I've read up on
it back way back in the past. It was horrible.
They did treat the patients wrong. And I like to
be called I would like a hospital would be called
(12:00):
mental illness, because that's what it is. You're chemically imbalanced.
And you can't control it and it is not your fault,
like you see, for instance, the guy in Maine, he
knew he was going to do it. He was in
a mental hospital and he specifically told everybody what he
(12:20):
was going to do, and they continue to let him
out and then look at the horrific thing that happened.
So it is it is a good idea and a
good idea that Trump wants to do what he wants
to do, and it should be controlled better because you
don't want this to continue to happen, and you do
(12:43):
want to clean up the streets because there are people
that do beg for help and it's not there.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
No, that's right, it isn't there. And I think that
the point that Aaron was making earlier was a good one.
I don't know if you grease Alina, and that is
you have. I think these these independent living places are vital,
but I think they're over filled to capacity and they
would have and they may have the wrong people in
(13:10):
them because there's no other place to put those people.
And I think if you had a state hospital where
you could put people who really cannot function on their own,
it would leave room for people who can who are
who are dealing with either medication or therapy, whatever it is,
(13:31):
that it's helping them and do have the opportunity to
transition out of the system with care and help. I
think it makes it easier for them to be in
a situation where they're not one have to deal with
somebody who is who is criminally insane, as opposed to
having a mental illness. I think they're two completely different things,
(13:52):
and I think it. I think everybody benefits. I think
the people who are living in the halfway house benefits
because they have they have more focus on them and
what they need, and they're in a situation that's going
to help them thrive, as opposed to one that could
possibly set them back. And I think that's what happens
when you have people that don't belong there, who are there?
(14:15):
Am I making any sense to you, Selena, do?
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (14:18):
You do?
Speaker 7 (14:18):
No, You're absolutely right. I just think it's a very
good idea that Trump is on board. And what I
love about him is people, a lot of people, well
the Democrats don't give him any credit at all, which
he deserves all the credit in the world, because see
he's even thinking about this, He's all he does all
(14:39):
the time, is just thinks about how to make the
world better. And I just I can't comment enough on
how like when I first heard this topic that you
were saying, I'm like, oh my goodness, he's thinking again
on how to make the world better, trying to make
the streets safe, trying to make everybody safe. And not
(15:00):
only that, he's trying to help those people that are
criminally insane to try and get them better. That's all
he ever want to do is just help everybody.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Yeah, I think that's a fair assessment of why he
suggested this. I think he is trying to make everybody better.
Thank you so much for joining us, Selena. I really
appreciate it, and I wish you so much luck and
I hope the system doesn't fail you. It sounds like
you are working very hard at your own health and
well being, and I think that's fantastic and our thoughts
(15:32):
and prayers are with you. Thank you so much. Let's
talk to John in Newburyport. John, welcome to WRKO.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
How are you sir, morning, Samby, how are you?
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I'm fine? Do you agree with opening up centers? And
by the way, I have on the text line a
few other suggestions for names. Besides state asylums, we have
the centrist for healing, and we have how about wellness centers?
Do you do any of these?
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I'm sorry, go ahead, you're my opinion.
Speaker 8 (16:00):
Whatever they call him is kind of It really doesn't matter.
The point is Jeffards I am one thousand percent for this.
I had first hand experience dealing with it. Past women
said that family members what happened with me? This was
my experience. Me and my older sister had my brother
(16:21):
who passed away from mental illness, and a lot of
this mental illness is accompanied with drug or alcoholism. And
what would happen was me and my sister. He was
living on the street and he was talking to himself,
my brother, and he was the nicest guy, but he
had illness and he would not go get help. So
we would go to the court and they would say
(16:43):
we need an address to go pick him up, or
he has to commit a crime. He hasn't committed a crime,
so we had problems getting him into treatment to get
him help. And then once it happened, thirty days would
go by and they would kick him loose and we
would go back to the court. They say, you have
to come back in another year. So touching, you keep
(17:04):
touching on. It has to be different, absolutely in that aspect,
because you can't even get these people into these places.
Because it was the psychiatrist to the court was telling us,
you need an address and blah blah blah.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
So you're saying, you're saying, John, we need more than
just the hospital's reopen. We need legislation that enables that
enables family members or authorities to help somebody help themselves basically.
Speaker 8 (17:33):
And in denial of their of their disease and their illness,
and then how do you get them in there committed?
And then it is definitely, definitely a very serious problem.
I drive for a living them out in a row.
It's it's very sad. They walk around all over the place,
like you said, the woman, poor woman, people talking to
themselves in the driveway. And another thing that I've witnessed
(17:57):
is when you have two people a male a female
that have mental illness and addiction, then they have children,
and then it perpetuates into a much bigger problem. It's
just it's very unfortunate, but absolutely they need to open it,
especially Massachusetts, the way they squander our tax dollars absolutely
(18:18):
to this.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Well, thank you so much for the call, John, I
appreciate it very much. And I think that seems to
be the resounding response is that people think that President
Trump is on the right track. But I completely agree
with you. More is needed than just reopening the hospitals.
And I mean we can make a list of things
that need to change. One besides open the facilities, you
(18:42):
need to make sure there's better oversight than there has
been in the past. We know that there are better treatments.
And John brings up an interesting point, and that is
you need legislation that that helps family members and possibly
you know, local authorities help people who are already who
(19:03):
can't help themselves, because if you have a mental illness,
you can't necessarily your judgment is not sound, and when
you're trying to assess what you might need, how desperate
a situation you might be in. And I understand, you know,
everybody's freedoms and rights to guaranteed by the Constitution, but
(19:24):
there has to be some space in there for legislation
that helps people who cannot help themselves. Our text number
is seven zero four seven zero nine seven eight on
the text line. This text machine moves really fast if
you're not upon it nine seven eight, says Sandy. The
(19:46):
issue here isn't any mental health or addiction treatment. The
left and their NGOs believe people in the streets want
to be there and choose that lifestyle, but that cannot
be true for people who are completely addicted or severely
mentally and stable. Just housing them is not enough. We
need forced treatment, forced treatment. I'm a little uncomfortable with
(20:09):
that idea. With forced treatment, I think there has to
be something in between what we have now, which is
somebody with reduced faculties left to make the decision of
themselves whether they agree to treatment or whether they've committed
a crime. The police can go get them if they've
committed a crime, and forced treatment. I think that maybe
(20:34):
some kind of of due process system where a board
of health officials may be review a case made by
a family member that somebody needs treatment, and I think
you need more than one person deciding if somebody has
to have treatment. I think it needs to be there
(20:56):
has to be some kind of way to have somebody
a group of people review it and you have to
have to appeal from that. I think you need that
kind of system in there so that you're not looking
at an abusive system where somebody can just point their
finger and require somebody to get treatment. I think that's
a problem, and that is a system that would be
(21:18):
open to abuse. So I think we need to come
up with something while we're talking about what changes we
can make to make this a workable system for everybody.
I think that's one of the things that we have
to talk about, whether you can force somebody into treatment,
or whether we put a system in place that aids
in that. Because right now, having as you've spoken, we've
(21:40):
spoken this morning with family members and people themselves who
have issues and we're unable to make the decision because
they were in denial or they just didn't have the
wherewithal to recognize what they were doing, and the police
can't help because they haven't committed a crime, and these
families are left in limbo and somebody's left to hurt
(22:00):
themselves or other people, and it's just a horrible situation.
So there has to be a change there, and I
think a legislative change that creates, you know, some kind
of of review board in regard to commitment might be
the answer. What do you think of that. Let's go
to Linda and Medford. Linda, what do you think about
(22:23):
some kind of due process system to decide whether somebody
needs treatment or not in one of these state hospitals
that President Trump wants to open.
Speaker 9 (22:32):
Well, I wanted to address another issue about the homeless
situation with those who need psychiatric care. Years back, when
they closed the asylums, they gave the patients prescription, but
(22:55):
when somebody starts deteriorating mentally, it's difficult for them to
orchestrate getting to the pharmacy, getting the prescription, and of
course having some money to pay for the prescription. And
what they were doing is they were showing up at
the hospital's emergency and that's not the place to treat
(23:22):
anything that's long term. So they might get.
Speaker 10 (23:26):
A prescription, but in the end, they all just didn't
have the wherewithal to be out on the street without
somebody monitoring them. And I think it's a good idea
to open up some of these facilities now because I
(23:50):
think they should be housed.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Above.
Speaker 10 (23:54):
You know some of the individuals that are coming.
Speaker 9 (23:57):
Here illegally yes and getting housing, and you know the
ve's that could use housing that were injured.
Speaker 11 (24:08):
I think it's a very complicated issue, and I think
it's important to recognize that you can't say, well, this
person has been with us for.
Speaker 9 (24:19):
Thirty days, they're doing well. Well, they can be discharged
because within two or three months they're back in the
same state.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah, no, that's right, without oversight, without and that's what
those houses, the one, like Aaron was saying, was next
door to her, I think are four and are you know,
are terrific. It's a great idea, but I think that
they are swamped. I think they cannot give the attention
(24:48):
to their residents that they need to, and I think
they have residents that are not appropriate for them because
there's no other place to put them. So I think
that you I think the problem that you're talking about
can be handled by of course opening facilities that you know, healthcare,
(25:09):
like walking health care facilities to help a lot of
these people as opposed to having them go to the
emergency room. But also these transition houses independent living houses,
I think are also an important factor. But they can't
do their job right now because they're overwhelmed by people
who really should be in a more structured environment like
a mental hospital. Don't you think it's interesting Linda do
(25:30):
you think that President Trump intended this conversation when he
mentioned to the reporter, yes, I think we should open asylums.
I mean, he said this when he was running for president,
and he's been following through just ticking off the boxes
of his campaign promises, and this was one of them.
But by just mentioning opening the insane asylums, I state
(25:52):
assane asylums again, he is basically generated this entire conversation
regarding what other things we need to do in order
to help both the criminally insane who are on the street,
the people who aren't criminally insane but who have been
left to fend for themselves on the street, the people
who are on the street who aren't insane but have
to deal with both of the two above, and families
(26:15):
that are in distress because they don't know how to
get help, for people who have a mental illness that
could be easily treatable through medication or therapy, but who
can't get the help. So look at all the levels
of conversation that have come from President Trump's you thirty
second recommendation during an interview, do you think that was
(26:36):
his intention?
Speaker 2 (26:39):
Well?
Speaker 9 (26:40):
I think I think one we need to ask and
to change the term in say the asylum, but New
York has the homeless.
Speaker 10 (26:50):
They're living in the subways and.
Speaker 9 (26:53):
It's like that throughout the country for the most part.
The other thing is that they do when they get
their oftentimes they're selling them to get something to eat.
So again that's another reason they don't maintain.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, so that's another reason why I think you need
that the centers and the transition houses. But and I
think they're great. I think they are absolutely. They are
one of those big steps that we took in the
modern age meaning modern after you know, nineteen seventy, basically
to help with people, facilitate people re entering society after
(27:31):
being in a mental hospital. But I think that the
closing of the state asylums put an undue burden on
them and have crushed them. And I don't think that
they get a fair shake for because they're overwhelmed with
what they have to do. And I think that's one
of the things that we need to fix. Thank you
(27:51):
for the Collinda, I appreciate it very much. Let's go
to John in Peaboddy. John, Welcome to WRKO. How are you, sir?
I'm doing fine things, so do you agree with President Trump,
do we need to reopen the state asylums?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
I do.
Speaker 12 (28:08):
And my wife had complained about those few years because
she worked at the Dare Island facility, and I think
it was through CAUCUSS at the time, we might have
closed a lot of these facilities down. And then later
on when she was working in Boston after she lost
that job, she would see most of these patients wandering
around Columbus parkhow and she's like, my god, he says,
(28:29):
I recognize that person. She attacks some of our staff.
So I think in the endgame, Sandy not to step
off the subject at all. Is that the Democrats, I think,
lose a lot of their their mental facility faculty is
because Trump is probably one of the few governments in
(28:55):
charge that tries to fix a lot of problems with
wasted taxpayers money. And I think the Democrats get a
little agitated with that because I think sometimes in their
minds it's their own little cookie jar dipping their hands
in these wasted programs. And when Trump uses wasted taxpayers
(29:18):
money to fix these problems, it's the one thing that
separates him from typical government, because government is always looking
to spend tax payer's money on profit and revenue as
opposed to fixing problems that have been happening for years.
And like it says, Trump's finding wasted money to put
it where it belongs. He's not like adding to a deficit.
(29:41):
He's basically putting, like it says, the pegs in the
right hole, you know. And I think that's what aggravates
Democrats is because, like it says, they don't like seeing
this man stepping up and correcting problems that they either
just didn't take the time to do themselves. It's just
(30:04):
it's sort of just a jealous move.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Oh, it's absolutely so, that's such a good word. It
absolutely is a jealous move. And it's I think it's
based in two different things, John. I think it's based
in one, they can't let him win on anything or
succeeded anything, because that means that he's right and they're wrong.
And if that's the case, then voters are going to
(30:29):
support him and not them, and they can't allow that
to happen. And two, a lot of these problems are
of their making, and if they to admit he succeeded
at something, they had to admit there was a problem
in the first place, and then they have to look
in the mirror, and they don't want to do that either.
So I think you're absolutely right. What do you think
about the state asylums system? Do we need to rename
(30:54):
it to make it more palatable to people? Maybe call
it the wellness centers or psychiatric centers or are you
good with state mental hospital?
Speaker 12 (31:02):
Well, I think maybe mental wellness center.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
That sounds yeah, you know, actually.
Speaker 12 (31:08):
If that's simplified enough and not like it says too
too blunt of a you know of a phrase. Like
I said, my wife for years had worked around people
like this, and you know, this is something she's always
argued about, is you know, losing that particular job, even
though she said it was very stressful, but it's sort
(31:30):
of her background. Yeah, but you know, and she said, someday,
you know, it may be corrected. But you know, if
this has brought into mainstream now, you know, maybe, like
I says, maybe it might have a very big impact
on crime and all these I mean, look at look
at the veterans, what they're also going through. They're still
(31:52):
like I is, wandering aimlessly to find out, you know,
their futures. It took for her nephew fifteen years to
finally get the V eight to step up and you know,
take care of his disability. You know, it's it's just, yeah,
it's just a lot of I guess there's a lot
of wasted money and programs as just hopefully you know,
(32:14):
Trump's trying to plug him in the right places.
Speaker 5 (32:16):
Now.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
It seems like he is, don't you think, John, I mean,
it seems like he's just going through a list. He
identified a lot of these problems when he was running
for president. He said, we need to do ABCD and
he just seems to be checking them off one and
within the first year in office, he just seems to
be going right through the list. And this was one
of the things that he said. And I played the
campaign video that he that he did earlier in the
(32:39):
show and the first actually, I think like the first
or second segment of the show today, and he said
this was a problem, and I'm going to deal with it.
And we're eight months in and he's making the suggestion
let's reopen the state mental hospitals. Now it's a lot
more difficult than just saying, okay, let's reopen it. We
know that it's there's a lot that goes into it,
and the state has to since the state sponsored hospital,
(33:02):
the state has to go along with it. But there's
a lot of stuff the federal government can do, like
give the state, you know, federal tax dollars that can
only be used for that as opposed to using taking
it and using it for you know, immigrant families or
cell phones or programs of that nature. You can specify,
and I think that's what needs to happen, and so
(33:24):
we need the congressional delegation on board with that as well.
And then I think you have all sorts of levels
the thing that need to happen. You need to have,
like I said, some kind of system set up for
legislation regarding helping families get another family member help, or
(33:44):
maybe they don't have family and they need some kind
of intervention, maybe by a social worker or a local official,
and you need a review board that can do that.
And so you're not just Willie Lilly saying you over
there you need psychiatric help because you can't do that.
(34:06):
That's a little bit too draconian. You need to find
a way to do it. There's so many things that
we need to work on in this but I applaud
President Trump for starting the conversation by simply making one suggestion,
and that it was to reopen the state hospitals. And
I support it too. Thank you for the call, John,
I appreciate it very much. Laura in New Badford, welcome
(34:27):
to WRKO. How are you, Laura.
Speaker 6 (34:31):
You're doing a great job filling it in.
Speaker 1 (34:33):
Thank you very much. I appreciate that. So do you
think President Trump's on the right track here?
Speaker 6 (34:39):
I do, I do really quick. I've seen both sides
of a coin. I've I've battled my own mentally illness
since I was about thirty five, married thirty three years,
two great adult children. I work part time and mental
(35:00):
health facility.
Speaker 11 (35:03):
And.
Speaker 6 (35:05):
I think, I think every case when a patient gets
discharged needs to it needs to be assessed case by case.
You can't just say, oh, let's just send them to
a family. Oh, you know, the social workers. If anyone's
looking for a job. This is just my opinion. Social
work needs to be a career that these college kids
(35:29):
need to look at. Really. I mean, because some people,
seriously I am, I'm trying to do good. I know
I'm nervous. Some people go to group homes. Some people
go to programs. Some people go to like addiction programs.
(35:54):
Some people go back to their families. And I am
my strong point at my job. I work at the
front desk, but I do visitors, phone calls, set up
medical records, blah blah bl out or whatever hat they
want to put on me. But and caretakers. You know,
these these families are distrust when they come visit. Some
(36:16):
of them are, you know, they're good, they come every
day or every week or whatever. But it's it's a
tough sell to come visit, you know, it's really tough.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
I've done it, Laura. I've done it myself with a
family member, and so I know exactly what you're talking about.
It is very difficult, and it's for both the person
who's in the hospital and for the family visiting because
you are in distress as the person visiting, because you're
you're family members in distress and you want them to
(36:48):
be better. You want them to be to get the
most out of the situation that they find themselves in
so that they can come out and be with you.
And it is it is a situation ratful of emotion
and fear, and it is it is very difficult. And
I think that opening the state asylums and taking some
(37:10):
of the pressure off the lower level mental hospitals would
be just like taking the pressure off of the transition houses.
I think would be a great idea. I also think
that training is incredibly important, and I love your suggestion of,
you know, bringing this up in more college courses and
(37:33):
maybe bringing some state universities. You can't make public private
universities do anything wellless of course you give them money
to do it. But maybe in the state universities, putting
more of an emphasize emphasis emphasis on social work and
letting people know what kind of rewarding careers are out
there is certainly I think a big step in helping
(37:54):
correct you know, a dearth of social work that is
out there now. I think that's a great idea, Laura.
You must I know it's a difficult job, but you
must get a lot out of helping people at your job.
Speaker 6 (38:14):
I come from a background of dimension memory care for
like thirty years and then I needed a break from it,
and then I got a job myself, and this is
the job I got myself, and I think I'm good
at it. You know, I've got some issues with the
charts and okay, it'd only worked twenty hours. I'm sixty
three years old, and so you know, like if they
(38:36):
want to, I've never been written up. There'll be two
years in November. So I've, like I said, I've seen
both sides of the coin. I take medication myself, and
I to be perfectly honest with you, I'm transparent with
some of my visitors. I'll say, listen, I take medication.
It's not a big deal. And I always say, you
take whatever you have, from high blood pressure to mountal illness.
(39:00):
Acknowledge what you have and go with it. Acknowledge it.
Just say I have this, it's okay, and that's all.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
I think that's reassuring to people, Laura, when you do that,
because I can tell you. I mean, if if I
was dealing with somebody going to visit a family member
and met you at the hospital at the front desk,
and you were telling me about the fact that you're
on medication, I would be thrilled to pieces because you're
an articulate, intelligent, lovely woman, and it's hopeful you see
(39:30):
somebody functioning really well on medication, and it makes you
hopeful for your family members. So I think what you're
doing is very kind to tell people.
Speaker 6 (39:40):
The only thing I had really quick. I know you
have a million people waiting. I'm still struggling with what
do you call transgender. We have a lot of little
like a unit that the parents come in. It's just
probably the way I grew up and my good friends
fun is and I struggle with it because the girl
(40:04):
who I used to work with will went to a
different job to say he or she person. It's like,
I get all crazy.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
It could be confusing. It can be very confusing, especially
if you nuse somebody before the transition and then after
the transition and you slip up and you don't want
to offend anybody, but you're not sure what the what
is the etiquee? I mean, there are all sorts of
questions with that, so I completely understand. Thank you so
much for the call, Laura. I really appreciate it, and
I think it gives people a lot of insight into
(40:35):
into the world of the mental hospitals and what it's
like to work there, and what a little act of
kindness can do when you're there, like sharing something personal
like you yourself or my medication. I think is a wonderful
thing to do. Let's go to Dave in Vermont. Dave,
Welcome to w RKO. How are you, sir, Good morning, Shandy.
Speaker 5 (40:57):
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (40:58):
I am fine. Do you think this is a good
idea to reopen the state asylums?
Speaker 5 (41:03):
Yes? I knew, and let me explain why. Upon arrival
back into the country from World War Two, a couple
of my uncles went to work for the Fernal School.
We grew up in the area not known as the
Boon Dogs back then, up in northern Wister County, and
(41:23):
they went to work for the school. One of my
uncles was he headed the maintenance department, and the other
one was working on one of the farms. And they
were a productive farms. And I've been on the farms
many times to watch. I remember cutting blocks of ice
out of the pond and hauling at my oxen down
to the ice house and burying it the sawdust. And
(41:45):
the people that worked on there were the residents of
the Fernal Farm. And so I saw these people coming
back a lot of more returnees from World War two
and they found purpose in their life. And this worked
out at both farms. The other farm was more productive,
(42:09):
but they had more vegetables, and some of these people
were out running the farm stands in the fall and everything.
But I think productivity these people found a purpose in
their life and it helped them. It's necessary.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Yeah, I think productivity is necessary for everybody, no matter
what level you're on. Dave, I need you to stand
on the line for it because we're about to go
into a break
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